Q&A with Assemblymember Buffy Wicks

You’re right that we’ve done a lot of good work over the past eight or so years. But we still haven’t solved the problem, so we’re going to keep chipping away at it. I’m putting a lot of my focus and energy on a $10 billion housing bond that I’d like to get on the ballot in November, which will serve housing needs for some of the lowest-income residents of our community.

I’ve also chaired a Select Committee on Housing Construction Innovation, where we’re looking at newer, innovative models of home building, like 3D printing, that we as a state could embrace with the goal of bringing down housing costs. While we build a lot of rental units—not enough, of course, but that’s been the primary focus—we only build 2,000 condos a year in a state of 40 million people. That’s a huge deficit, given their appeal to first-time home buyers and retiring seniors, along with other groups aiming to build equity and wealth.

As you may recall, this happened last year too, and as a Legislature we were successful in fighting to obtain more funding, so I would expect the same scenario this year. The Assembly has led on this every year, under the leadership of Speaker Robert Rivas, Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, Assemblymember Matt Haney and many others, including myself, of course. We are very committed to fighting for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and all the other resources we know our communities need so desperately and are committed to continuing to do so.

The housing bond did not materialize last cycle because of competition from the school facilities bond and the climate bond, but I think we are first in the queue for bonds this year so I’m very cautiously optimistic that it will be on the November ballot. I think there’s strong buy-in from the Senate now, thanks to new leadership from Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón who moved the Senate bill through its process in record speed as soon as she took over, which was a good sign. Obviously, the Assembly is very committed, and I believe the Governor’s office remains committed. By May or June, we’ll have a stronger sense of how we can move it out of both houses so we can begin the campaign to pass it on the November ballot.

It’s going to take all of us rowing our oars in the same direction. We’ve found that it’s also important to emphasize not just how a certain policy will fast track more housing or how many units it will build, but that what we’re actually doing is transforming families’ lives. In that way, we appreciate powerful messengers like Eden who can talk not just about the money but tell the stories of the constituents you serve—about families who need a roof over their head.  We need to lift up their stories, to center it around the experience of those who need these resources for stability.

There are so many ways to approach this issue, and the research has been fascinating. Last fall I took some of my committee colleagues to Sweden to look at their housing models, which was very inspiring. They build about 85% of their new single-family homes in these beautiful, clean factories, and we visited some of these aesthetically pleasing Scandinavian designed homes, which were just gorgeous. Obviously, Sweden is very different from California, but it was exciting to see how the timber industry coordinates with the factories, and then the cities, which take on the role of developers. So, there’s constant demand coming from the cities, but then enough supply of natural resources so the factories have this constant throughline of home building.

We also went to Idaho in December, looking at three different factories there: Autovol, Guerdon and Nashua Builders, which all use new ways of building and are able to deliver product in California. I also toured Champion Homes in Topeka, Indiana, which builds mostly manufactured housing and has been doing so for decades.

It was a nice combination of “shiny, new object” and “stands the test of time” factories, all focused on bringing down the cost of housing. It’s really aspirational since the California government hasn’t embraced this conversation yet, as far as I’m aware, to see how these models can produce more affordable housing.

That’s the fundamental question I’ve been asking, and in addition to these tours, we’ve brought in different experts, like labor unions and for-profit and non-profit developers, to explore the challenges and opportunities. In addition, we’re working very closely with the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley, which recently issued a related white paper offering concrete policy ideas.

I think that will inspire a half dozen or so bills, such as building code reform and even opportunities to create a financial backstop so developers don’t view factory-built housing as risky. Ideally, we can create a better regulatory environment that allows us to enjoy the benefits of modular, such as speed and affordability.

Well, it most certainly should be the top priority! While we’ve made much progress, there’s still more to do, in areas such as innovation, as discussed above, and permitting reform.

Gavin Newsom has done a fantastic job of funding housing and has been a really great partner for me in this space, and I’m very appreciative of his leadership. I’m also hopeful that our next Governor will continue to build on that good work. I’d love to see that person tackle ways to bake ongoing funding for affordable housing into the budget.

If there’s anything I’ve learned in the last year it’s that we are going to have to step up to be our own solution, with the federal government not only lacking in leadership, but actively trying to undermine the state of California. That means it’s up to our Governor and state electeds to make sure our communities are made whole on a wide variety of issues—not only housing, but also healthcare, protecting our immigrant community, and so many others that are unfortunately now squarely our problem to deal with alone, without any help from the federal government.