The bill would create substantial barriers for the future of affordable housing in California.

Sacramento – Yesterday, Assembly Bill 3190 moved out of the Senate Appropriations committee and will move to the full Senate floor for a vote in coming weeks.

“California needs to reduce barriers to building more affordable housing, not create additional roadblocks that stop the progress we have made as a state,” said Jenna Abbott, California Council for Affordable Housing Executive Director. “While well intentioned, a yes vote on AB 3190 would have devastating consequences on the production of California’s low and middle-income housing and we urge the Senate to vote no.”

AB 3190 would require prevailing wages on nearly all Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects, significantly increasing the cost of developments during a time when existing resources are already scarce.

A recently released report from the Terner Center found that, “prevailing wages can also drive up the cost of subsidized housing construction, requiring policymakers to commit more public funding for each new unit.” The report went on to say that “the high cost of construction is a fundamental obstacle to building more housing in California.”

“While California has made recent progress to increase the number of low and middle-income housing units, there is still significant work to be done,” added Abbott. “We have simply not built enough housing to meet the demand. The recent Terner Center study shows that implementing AB 3190 would add a significant cost, as much as $94,000 per unit, for affordable builders who are already stretched thin. Policy like what AB 3190 is proposing would have a significant chilling effect on our collective efforts to provide more housing for our most vulnerable low- and middle-income communities.”

The full Terner Center report on the impact of prevailing wage requirements can be found HERE.

About California Council for Affordable Housing (CCAH)

CCAH is dedicated to facilitating the development and expansion of affordable housing throughout California and is committed to working with stakeholders and policymakers to achieve a pathway to increased affordable housing. Our membership is a broad based group of non-profit organizations, builders, developers, lenders, housing advocates and others who work together to expand housing throughout the state.