Overview

Home to almost 40 million people, California residents are represented on statewide issues by the California State Legislature, which consists of 40 State Senators in the upper house (on 4-year terms) and 80 State Assembly Members in the lower house (on 2-year terms).

California has more than half of all unsheltered homeless people in the United States at 53% or 108,432, nearly nine times as many as the state with the next highest number. California has the second highest number of people per housing unit in the country, a sign of overcrowded living conditions and a vast under-supply of housing.

Background

The administration of State-controlled housing funds and policy development are delegated to several departments and agencies within the State. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, California’s various housing entities will allocate more than $13 billion in funds and financing tools.

The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) serves as the lead state housing agency for policy development and financial assistance. The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) serves as the state’s affordable housing bank, while the more recently created Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) oversees the implementation of Housing First services to prevent and end homelessness in California. Tax credits and bonds are handled by the State’s Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) that administers the federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Programs and the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC) allocates federally tax-exempt bonds that can be used for multi-family housing development and preservation.