Committee urges local match, congressional support for National Housing Trust Fund

The Land Use & Transportation Committee unanimously forwarded a resolution on Jan. 19 urging San Francisco to establish a local match commitment to the National Housing Trust Fund and asking Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi to support expanded funding.

Supervisor Mark Mar (item author) said the resolution aims to increase resources for extremely low‑income renters (defined in the staff remarks as households at about 30% of area median income). He said the fund would help build and preserve rental housing for people with the lowest incomes and would be particularly useful given recent federal funding cuts.

Sophie Hayward of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development said additional federal dollars and any local match would be deployed to expand housing production for extremely low‑income and very low‑income households. She noted the city will advocate to ensure San Francisco receives its share when state allocations are made.

Nonprofit providers and people with lived experience of homelessness gave lengthy public comment in support. Paul Bowden and James Tracy (Community Housing Partnership) urged aggressive local action and federal lobbying. Jennifer Dolan of Mercy Housing said supportive housing providers deliver services that stabilize residents and reduce costs for the city.

Multiple residents who had experienced homelessness testified that expanded funding can move people from streets and shelters into stable housing. James Tracy told the committee the resolution would make San Francisco more competitive for scarce trust‑fund dollars offered through the states and would strengthen local lobbying efforts to restore funding lost over decades.

The committee voted to forward the resolution with a positive recommendation to the full Board of Supervisors.