Padilla Announces Over $667 Million in American Rescue Plan Funding for Affordable Housing Projects in CA
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif) announced over $667 million in federal funding —provided by the American Rescue Plan, which Padilla helped pass last month — will go toward supporting local affordable housing programs and projects across California. This new funding through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME Investments Partnerships program will help expand the supply of affordable housing to low- and very low-income families.
“California has a shortage of affordable housing, and it’s going to take all levels of government working together to close the gap,” Senator Padilla said. “This new federal funding from the American Rescue plan will infuse hundreds of millions of dollars into local projects across the state to increase the affordable housing supply. As we work to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, I will continue to advocate for investments that help meet our state’s housing challenges and support the long-term economic prosperity of our underserved communities.”
The HOME Investment Partnerships Program provides grants to states and localities that communities use – often in partnership with local nonprofit groups – to fund a wide range of activities including building, buying, and/or rehabilitating affordable housing for rent or homeownership or providing direct rental assistance to low-income people.
A breakdown of this funding to local California governments is available here.
In California, more than 1.4 million units are needed to address the affordable housing shortage. Senator Padilla is already backing several efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing in the state. Last month, he cosponsored legislation to reauthorize the Neighborhood Stabilization Program that provides grants for state and local governments to acquire and rehabilitate existing buildings to increase the supply of affordable housing units. Padilla also urged President Biden to prioritize affordable housing in the Build Back Better infrastructure bill, calling for the inclusion of $70 billion to address the Public Housing repair backlog, and $45 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund per year, of which $26 billion would be reserved for permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness.
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