Announcing groundbreaking new reforms\u00a0<\/p>\n
These reforms will help stretch existing dollars further and come alongside the passage of the historic $11.25 billion Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026<\/a>, proposed for voter approval later this year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Through the legislation signed today, the Governor and the Legislature are:<\/p>\n Modernizing California\u2019s housing finance system through landmark One-Stop Shop reforms that streamline project delivery, reduce duplicative reviews, and accelerate affordable housing production. Since 2019, the Newsom administration has created unprecedented policy and structural changes<\/a> in state government to help California better address its housing and homelessness crises, including additional and unprecedented support for local governments<\/a>, stronger accountability<\/a> and enforcement<\/a>, transformational changes to mental health services<\/a>. This also includes groundbreaking reforms like the legislative reforms signed last year that deliver foundational changes to break down systemic barriers and help ensure California can meet the housing needs of current and future generations. These changes have helped connect hundreds of thousands of people at risk of or experiencing homelessness with vital supports.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reversing decades of inaction\u00a0<\/p>\n This work has created immediate, measurable results and the critical foundation necessary to finally solve California\u2019s housing and homelessness crisis. Governor Newsom\u2019s policies have had a significant impact:<\/p>\n Historic drops in homelessness \u2014 The largest statewide reduction in unsheltered homelessness in 16 years, with a 9% reduction in unsheltered homelessness across 30 continuums of care that reported updates in 2025. New federal data also shows California last year saw:<\/p>\n Largest reduction in unsheltered homelessness in the nation. California reduced unsheltered homelessness by 8,391 people, or 6.8% \u2014 more than any other state. That decline is more than twice the national reduction of 2.9% and significantly exceeds that of the next largest state, Texas, which saw a 1.4% decrease. In addition, Governor Newsom is addressing a housing shortage that has been decades in the making. Since 2019:<\/p>\n Building is happening faster \u2014 Annual residential construction has increased by 59%, from 70,000 homes built in 2018 to about 111,000 in 2024. California\u2019s fiscal foundation<\/p>\n These investments help support key programs while also advancing fiscal sustainability for years to come. Over the past seven years, California has transformed its fiscal outlook by paying down debt, building historic reserves, maintaining the state\u2019s credit rating, and making record investments in the people and infrastructure that power one of the world\u2019s largest economies. This budget continues this disciplined approach \u2014 protecting essential services today while positioning California for long-term success.<\/p>\n Since Governor Newsom took office, California has:<\/p>\n Built and maintained the largest state budget reserves in California history. The 2026-27 budget continues this disciplined approach, making strategic investments while preserving California\u2019s fiscal strength for years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Announcing groundbreaking new reforms\u00a0 These reforms will help stretch existing dollars further and come alongside the passage of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-397729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nReducing the cost of building affordable housing by an estimated $60,000 to $70,000 per unit through One-Stop Shop financing reforms and impact fee changes, enabling state housing dollars to finance significantly more homes and maximize the impact of future housing investments.\u00a0
\nCreating a new Disaster Rebuilding Fund (DRF) \u2014 Directs $100 million in funding to reduce financing costs for homeowners rebuilding after disasters, helping affected households repair or reconstruct homes more quickly and affordably.
\nExtending HHAP\u2014 Includes $900 million in FY 2026-27 for another round of state homelessness block grant funding while strengthening accountability through new local matching requirements and Prohousing requirements for direct HHAP recipients that are cities with populations over 300,000 and the counties in which those cities are located, encouraging greater local investment and policies that support housing production.
\nProviding multifamily affordable housing resources \u2014 Includes $500 million for enhanced state low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) and $200 million for the Multifamily Housing Program to support the construction and preservation of affordable multifamily housing for low-income Californians.<\/p>\n
\nTotal homelessness declined. California\u2019s overall homeless population dropped by 2.8%, marking the largest statewide decline since 2009.
\nLeading the nation in reducing homelessness in key populations. From 2023 to 2025, California ranked first among all states and the District of Columbia in reducing the numbers of veteran homelessness, chronic homelessness, homelessness among young adults ages 18-24, and homelessness among parents under 25.<\/p>\n
\nMultifamily construction has reached its highest level in decades \u2014 Over the last five years, more multifamily housing units have been built than in any five-year period in over 30 years, and more than 682,000 homes overall have been built statewide since 2019.
\nApproval times have been slashed \u2014 Streamlining laws enacted since 2019 have cut average time from development application to entitlement by 57%, from 160 days to 68 days in 2024. The time from entitlement to permit also dropped by 9%.\u00a0\u00a0
\nCommunities are ready to build more \u2014 Through Governor Newsom\u2019s work to ensure all jurisdictions do their part, communities throughout the state have laid the groundwork and have planned to accommodate at least 3.6 million new homes, including 1.4 million affordable units, moving California closer to meeting its long-term housing needs.<\/p>\n
\nPaid down billions of dollars in long-term liabilities.
\nMade historic investments in education, transportation, public safety, housing, behavioral health, climate resilience, and economic opportunity.
\nContinued prioritizing one-time investments where appropriate to strengthen the state\u2019s long-term fiscal outlook.
\nAdvanced landmark reforms balancing fiscal discipline with long-term investments, such as modernizing budget reserves and championing significant housing and homeownership initiatives.<\/p>\n