POLICY WATCH – April 2025
In This Issue
Getting into the Weeds of California’s Complex Affordable Housing Financing
NBLC Active Advocacy -Keep Improvements Moving on State Route 37 and Keep the Pressure on Housing
Don’t Miss Out! Register Now for Leaders of the North Bay Awards Luncheon, May 16th
Other Upcoming Events
Members in the New
The housing crisis continues to be one of the most pressing and persistent challenges facing all of us, prompting State lawmakers to propose a new slate of housing bills aimed at increasing supply, streamlining development, and addressing affordability. The 2025 legislative session is shaping up to be a battleground for bold reform and pragmatic compromise (hopefully). This policy watch highlights two key housing bills under consideration supported by NBLC, highlighting their potential impacts, political dynamics, and implications for local governments, developers, and residents alike. We also take a look at the complicated affordable housing financing system in California and offer some hope for that reform too. And, we take a moment to express our support for AB 697 and explain why it is so important to keeping the North Bay moving.
Don’t miss out! Join us and help us celebrate the Leaders of the North Bay at an Awards Luncheon on May 16th, at Flamingo Resort & Spa. Come network with business and civic leaders of the North Bay and recognize the 2025 outstanding leaders in our community. Tickets can be found here. Please visit www.northbayleadership.org for more information.
Enjoy.
Joanne
New analysis: Reducing the complexity of CA’s affordable housing finance system
In a report published online by the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, UC Berkeley, authors
Carolina Reid, Faculty Research Advisor and Tiffany Tran, MPP ’25, Graduate Student Researcher share with us their analysis and opinion. “Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent proposal to create a California Housing and Homelessness Agency offers an important opening for state policymakers to focus on a key impediment to affordable housing development: the complexity of financing for affordable housing.”
“To make affordable housing projects financially feasible, developers often stack Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) with other funding sources—requiring them to navigate multiple agencies and departments at the state and local levels. This fragmented funding landscape increases project complexity and extends the time it takes to build affordable housing, which can also increase costs.”
A new Terner Center analysis provides data on the projects most affected, as well as added cost and time delay estimates.
Key findings include:
“Between 2020 and 2023, 92 percent of new construction affordable housing projects relied on at least one public funding source, in addition to state-awarded low-income housing tax credits, and 76 percent included two or more different public funding sources. Approximately a third of projects included at least two state funding sources, in addition to the tax credits.”
“Across comparable projects, the inclusion of one additional public funding source adds an average of four months to the predevelopment timeline and is associated with an increase of $20,460 in per-unit total development costs.
Compiling additional public funding can add months or years to the development timeline. Projects with three to five additional public funding sources take nearly two years, on average, between the first funding application and their award of low-income housing tax credits.”
The authors suggest, “Reducing this complexity should be a policy priority, and there is now movement in that direction. Governor Newsom has put forward a proposal to consolidate housing planning and financing functions within a new housing and homelessness agency. The Governor’s recent proposal is a step towards reducing that fragmentation. But our analysis also suggests it doesn’t go far enough.
Read more analysis and full commentary here
NBLC Active Advocacy:
Support AB 697 (Wilson). Keep State Route (SR) 37 Improvements Moving!
NBLC has been a supporter of improvements to State Route (SR) 37 for many years. We are very dependent on having this highway available to connect the North Bay to the East Bay, as SR37 is an essential artery for our employees to commute, for goods movement and public safety. SR 37 is a vital North Bay transportation corridor, but is plagued with heavy congestion, bisects the ecologically rich San Pablo Baylands, and is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We support all measures to keep improvement projects moving forward without substantial and costly delays. This includes the passage of AB 697.
State, local and regional partners are coordinating on an integrated approach to address SR 37’s complex challenges – implementing near term Sears Point to Mare Island mobility and ecological restoration improvements that address quality of life issues for North Bay residents and businesses and improve habitat while advancing a long-term vision of an elevated causeway that is resilient to sea level rise.
The Sears Point to Mare Island project pairs mobility improvements – eliminating a 10-mile bottleneck by converting the existing road to a high occupancy vehicle lane, adding a new tolled lane and introducing transit service to the corridor – with projects that improve 1,200 acres of San Pablo Baylands habitat. This transportation–restoration partnership is not the only innovative component of this project; the mobility improvements utilize carpool and transit incentives to help eliminate 2 million vehicle miles traveled annually throughout the Bay Area while saving Solano County-to-Marin County commuters more than two full weeks per year. This time savings is also important for the North Bay’s agricultural economy and goods movement – SR 37 carries a quarter of all freight through the North Bay.
AB 697 would authorize SR 37 projects to secure permits for “incidental take” of the four fully protected species (FPS) in the corridor, so long as any species impacts are fully mitigated, among other provisions. This means SR 37 construction may occur even during FPS sensitive periods (e.g. mating and nesting seasons). The Sears Point to Mare Island project is a prime candidate for this approach, since the project itself facilitates habitat restoration.
Absent this legislation, the near-term SR-37 project will delay the long-term benefits of habitat restoration envisioned in the project, it will take substantially longer to complete, will not result in a longer-term solution being built any earlier, and will continue the unacceptable and inequitable conditions that commuters of Solano County who work in Marin and Sonoma counties now endure.
If this bill does not pass, the near-term SR-37 project will take substantially longer to complete. This bill is crucial to the success of the short term project which is THE PRIORITY.
Support SB 79 (Wiener). Keep Reforms Happening!
This message was reported by CA YIMBY: NBLC supported bill SB 79, “which makes it easier to build housing near transit stations, faced a tough challenge in the Senate Housing Committee. SB 79 passed 6-2, without a vote to spare. We made it through the first hurdle, and we want to make sure SB 79 passes its next hurdle in the Senate? Take two minutes to call your Senator and urge them to support this crucial bill!”
Call your Senator now and let them know that this bill is important to you. Here’s a sample script:
“Hi, my name is [NAME], and I live in Senator [NAME]’s district. I’m calling to express my strong support for Senator Scott Wiener’s SB 79. This bill will make our communities more climate-resilient and prevent displacement. Don’t force more Californians out of their hometowns. Please support SB 79. Thank you.”
Support AB 609 (WICKS). California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA): Infill Housing Exemption
California’s housing shortage is exacerbated by CEQA’s redundant review process. While regional plans, housing elements, and local zoning laws must already comply with CEQA, most individual housing projects- even those fully aligned with local zoning and objective standards—must still undergo the same review. Some projects qualify for exemptions, but these are often too subjective or include costly labor standards making housing financially infeasible.
While CEQA effectively prevents negative environmental impacts, it is not designed to facilitate projects that are inherently beneficial to the environment. Infill housing near jobs, schools, and amenities—proven to reduce per capita greenhouse gas emissions—faces the same regulatory hurdles as sprawl developments that increase pollution and congestion.
AB 609 removes this roadblock by exempting environmentally friendly housing projects from CEQA, provided they are in infill locations and not on environmentally sensitive or hazardous sites. These projects must still comply with local general plans, zoning ordinances, and objective standards—all of which have already undergone CEQA review. Assembly Bill 609, if passed, will exempt environmentally friendly housing projects from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), making California more affordable and resilient to climate change.
Upcoming Events:
Leaders of the North Bay. Friday, May 16th, Flamingo Resort, Santa Rosa.
Purchase Tickets Here
Don’t miss out! Join us and help us celebrate the Leaders of the North Bay at an Awards Luncheon on May 16th, at Flamingo Resort & Spa. Come network with business and civic leaders of the North Bay and recognize the 2025 outstanding leaders in our community. Tickets can be found here. Please visit www.northbayleadership.org for more information.
Members in the News
Kaiser Permanente Recognized by Newsweek for Three North Bay Hospitals for Quality Maternity Care
Newsweek has released its sixth-annual America’s Best Maternity Hospitals 2025, recognizing 444 medical centers in the country and 66 in California, including three in the North Bay.
Kaiser Permanente Marks Milestones in Santa Rosa
Kaiser Permanente on Wednesday held a milestone event at its Santa Rosa hospital to mark 35 years in operation, and 45 years providing outpatient medical care in the county.
Recology Sonoma Marin, in collaboration with Artstart, Announces New Summer Art Program - The Recology ArtStart Student Hub (TRASH)
Recology Sonoma Marin, in collaboration with Artstart, is thrilled to announce our new summer art program - The Recology ArtStart Student Hub (TRASH).
Bank of America Delivering for the North Bay
Bank of America helps build strong communities by financing affordable housing through all economic cycles for working families, seniors, veterans unhoused and other vulnerable residents.
Sutter Health Opens Primary Care, Urgent Care Clinic in Rohnert Park
Sutter Health has opened a primary care and urgent care clinic in Rohnert Park, the Sacramento-based health care system recently announced. It is the first of an additional 19 clinics in the works to open in the next three years. Sutter already operates nearly 30 in the state.
Marin Sanitary Service President, Patty Garbarino, Inducted into 2025 Hall of Fame by The National Waste & Recycling Association Announces
The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) announced the list of 2025 Hall of Fame inductees, including Marin Sanitary Service’s President, Patty Garbarino.
Redwood Credit Union Welcomes Gwen Oldhamas Vice President of Community and Social Impact
Gwen Oldham has been hired as the new vice president of community and social impact at Redwood Credit Union (RCU).
North Bay Business Journal’s 25th Annual Wine Industry Conference
Cheers to 25 Years! Join Us for the North Bay Business Journal’s Wine Industry Conference.