BOARD OF DIRECTORS Linda Mandolini Chair Executive Director, Eden Housing Jim Silverwood Vice Chair President, Affirmed Housing Lynn Hutchins Secretary Partner, Goldfarb Lipman Ken Sauder Treasurer President/CEO, Wakeland Housing April 6, 2015 The Honorable Toni Atkins Speaker of the California State Assembly State Capitol, Room 219 Sacramento, CA 95814 Doug Shoemaker Policy Chair President, Mercy Housing California Justin Cooper Membership Chair Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliff Geoff Brown Immediate Past-Chair President, USA Properties Fund Laura Archuleta President, Jamboree Housing RE: SUPPORT AB 90 Orlando Cabrera Counsel, Squire Patton Boggs Dear Speaker Atkins: Rebecca Clark President/CEO, LINC Housing The California Housing Consortium (CHC) is pleased to support your bill AB 90, which creates a framework for how California will spend the funds it receives from the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF). CHC is a non-partisan advocate for the production and preservation of housing affordable to low- and moderate-income Californians. We represent the development, building, financial, and public sectors united in their goal that every Californian has a safe, affordable place to call home. In California, 36% of homeowners and 48% of renters spend more than one third of their household income on housing. For the 32% of working renters who spend over half their income on housing, they’re forced every day to choose between other necessities such as food, clothing, transportation, and medical care. Until production of affordable homes keeps up with demand, California will continue to face the highest poverty rate in the nation and struggle to maintain California’s business competitiveness. Michael Costa President/CEO, Highridge Costa Carol Galante Professor, UC Berkeley Rick Gentry President/CEO, San Diego Housing Commission Robin Hughes President/CEO, Abode Communities Mary Kaiser Membership Vice Chair President, California Community Reinvestment Corporation Jim Kroger Partner, Novogradac & Company Mary Murtagh President/CEO, EAH Housing Jeanne Peterson Policy Vice Chair Director, CohnReznick Caleb Roope President/CEO, The Pacific Companies Last December, the Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie Mae and Mary Ellen Shay Freddie Mac to begin setting aside and allocating funds to the NHTF pursuant to President, ME Shay Co. the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA). HERA requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to transfer up to 1% of their new business revenues to finance the fund. Starting in 2016, the funds will be capitalized through an assessment of 0.042 percent on the Enterprises’ new business purchases, with 65% of the revenue will go to the NHTF. AB 90 will ensure that the funds received by California will be allocated to the most appropriate housing production programs. Having a healthy housing market that provides an adequate supply of homes affordable to Californians at all income levels is critical to the economic prosperity and quality of life in the state of California. Thank you for authoring this important bill and for your ongoing commitment to supporting affordable housing. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact our policy director, Marina Wiant, at (916) 930-5248 or [email protected]. Sincerely, Ray Pearl Executive Director CC: Lisa Engel, Chief Consultant, Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee California Housing Consortium ▪ 400 Capitol Mall, Suite 900 ▪ Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: 916.930.5248 ▪ E-mail: [email protected] ▪ Website: www.calhsng.org