Oakland, CA – On Tuesday, September 28th, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a suite of legislation directly addressing the affordable housing crisis in California, including AB 1043 (Bryan). This bill recognizes the critical housing needs of families who are Acutely Low Income. Acutely Low Income families earn less than 15% of the Area Median Income (AMI) – in Los Angeles, fully over 181,000 households earn less than $17,000 a year and will now be counted.
"This is a vital bill to address the housing and homelessness crises," said Assemblymember Isaac G. Bryan. "This bill brings real relief to our neighbors, our friends, our loved ones – over 181,000 families in our community who are working to make a better life for themselves and their kids. I'm proud to have brought this bill to the Governor, and I'm grateful for his partnership in this important fight for families and for economic justice. It's absolutely essential to ensure that families can afford to keep their homes."
In affordable rental housing developments constructed using State assistance, developers must set aside a portion of units for families earning less than 30% of AMI – in Los Angeles, $33,800 in income. Rents for those units can be no higher than 30% of that income or $10,140 a year. Until today, the rent ceiling for Acutely Low Income families was the same – in other words, at least to least 60% of their annual income. So even in the most affordable units, these families would be severely rent burdened – spending more than half of their income on housing. In Los Angeles, 88% of Acutely Low Income families are severely rent-burdened.
AB 1043 requires that new affordable rental developments built with state support recognize the Acutely Low Income (ALI) category, and caps rents for units set aside for Acutely Low Income families at 30% of the ALI income, rather than the higher existing rent caps for those earning up to 30% of AMI.
"I'm a renter too," explained Assemblymember Bryan. "I know what it's like to struggle to make rent, and to worry that a few less hours of work a week, or a car repair, or a kid's dental bill, will mean that you might not have enough left to pay that bill on the 1st. AB 1043 will help families who are struggling breath a little easier, and now that this income category is recognized in law, there's a lot more we can do to make sure these households have what they need to succeed."
Assemblymember Bryan passed AB 1043 out of the Assembly one week after he was sworn in to serve the people of the 54th District – likely the fastest in state history. "We hit the ground running," said Assemblymember Bryan, "and we haven't stopped. We've still got a lot left to do, and I'm so proud to be working on the problems the people of the 54th need solved – from Culver City to Crenshaw, Westwood to Western, Leimert to La Cienega."
Isaac G. Bryan represents California's 54th Assembly District, which includes the communities of Culver City, Baldwin Hills, Cheviot Hills, the Crenshaw district, Century City, Ladera Heights, Leimert Park, Mar Vista, Palms, Rancho Park, Westwood, West Los Angeles, and parts of South Los Angeles and Inglewood.