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Committee advances ACA 4, a proposal to dedicate a minimum share of the general fund to housing and homelessness
Summary
ACA 4, the Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOPE) Act, was adopted as amended by the Assembly Human Services Committee and sent to the Assembly Appropriations Committee; sponsors described it as proposing a 5% minimum of the state general fund for homelessness and affordable housing.
Assemblymember (author) presented ACA 4 — named in testimony as the HOPE Act — as a constitutional amendment intended to stabilize and increase funding for affordable housing and homelessness solutions. Witnesses from affordable housing developers and advocacy groups backed the measure in committee testimony.
Eric Vasquez of EAH Housing and Mimi Khalili of AG Global Solutions both testified in support. Vasquez described the HOPE Act as a “path forward” that would dedicate a minimum share of the state general fund to housing and homelessness programs; he said the sector has long advocated for a 5% minimum allocation. During questioning, committee members and witnesses discussed the scale of current spending: testimony cited cumulative recent spending of roughly $36 billion on homelessness over five years and modeled that a 5% general fund floor could translate into as much as $10 billion per year depending on the budget year.
Opponents were not recorded in the committee hearing. Committee discussion included differing views about whether more money alone solves homelessness; some members questioned program effectiveness while supporters pointed to recent data showing progress and to proposals to streamline approvals and reduce housing production costs.
The committee moved the measure, adopting amendments, and the motion to report the measure to Assembly Appropriations passed with recorded votes; the committee reported the item out with the recommendation to send it onward.
