SACRAMENTO –Assembly Member Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) has introduced two measures to address the need to increase affordable housing in California.

Saldaña, who serves as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development, said these bills reflect some of the growing concerns in the state about housing issues.

“The rate of housing affordability statewide is only 24%,” Saldaña said. “Less than a quarter of Californians have the means to afford a home at the median price range of $490,000.”

Saldaña’s measure, Assembly Bill 1493, would make $40 million of funding from Proposition 1C housing bond money available as matching grants for local affordable housing trust funds.

Local Housing Trust Funds are pools of funding dedicated to increasing access to affordable housing through direct assistance to renters and first-time home buyers, or by funding new housing and rehabilitation projects for older homes.

“I believe that a broad range of choices for addressing the housing affordability problem should be encouraged,” Saldaña said. “Increasing grant opportunities for local housing trust funds will encourage expansion of local programs with innovative approaches for increasing access to affordable housing.”

Saldaña's other measure, Assembly Bill 927 would also set aside Proposition 1C funding specifically for increasing the number of senior rental units.

“While the incomes of many of the state’s seniors are fixed, housing prices are not,” Saldaña said. “Rents have increased steadily in the state over the past few years, forcing seniors to make some very difficult choices about financial priorities.”

Other housing bills introduced by Saldaña include a measure to make the state more responsive to concerns about common interest developments, also known as homeowners associations; a measure to encourage the use of green materials in housing construction; and a bill to encourage affordable housing while maintaining local planning standards.