SBX8 27 – SB 958: National Housing Trust Fund Bill

No. of Jobs

2,965

Category

Invest state and federal funds to create jobs

Proposal

Through the use of federal housing funds we will put almost 3,000 people back to work and create affordable homes for California families.

Summary

This bill designates the Multifamily Housing Program at the Department of Housing and Community Development to distribute federal funds received from the National Housing Trust Fund. This will ensure these scarce funds are administered effectively through an existing program that has demonstrated success.

Background

No state has been harder hit by the housing meltdown than California. Consequently, California stands to receive a greater share of these federal funds than any other state.

Of the $1 billion expected to be available for all states as part of the National Housing Trust Fund, an estimated $193.2 million is expected to go to California based on its housing needs. The House has already additionally appropriated these authorized funds in its jobs bill.

Authorization for the National Housing Trust Fund was part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA; Public Law 1110289, enacted July 30, 2008). President Obama requested $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund in his budget on February 1, 2010. As part of the Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010 (H.R. 2847), the House approved appropriation last December and is now awaiting appropriation by the U.S. Senate in its jobs bill. It will be funded with unused Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds.

These public funds can leverage additional public and private capital to build and rehabilitate affordable homes. This construction will help put to work the almost 3,000 people whose jobs have been lost since 2005 because of the drop in residential construction.

Read the Bill