CALIFORNIA, USA — As the housing crisis continues in California, affordable housing is needed now more than ever.
Habitat for Humanity California says — with the governor's current budget proposal for the state — their funding will be cut and it'll impact their ability to provide and build affordable homes.
"Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento, on average annually, receives 300-400 applications for homeownership for the opportunity to purchase, on average, between 10 to 15 homes, just one of those," said Leah Miller, CEO for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento.
Following Governor Gavin Newsom's latest budget for the state, these projects are at risk of being cut. Homes built by Habitat for Humanity are funded through the CalHome program, that is the sole state funding source.
"In the governor's 24-25 budget, there was a claw back of $152 million that were allocated towards CalHome, so it's been zeroed out entirely," said Miller.
Current projects in the Sacramento area are not impacted, but Miller says future planned projects will be impacted.
"We do have some developments in the pipeline in Citrus Heights. We have 26 homes in South Sac. We have transit-oriented development that we haven't been able to apply for CalHome yet," Miller said.
ABC10 reached out to the Governor's Office for a response. They said:
"In addition to the Governor’s proposal on this issue in the May Revision, you may be aware that both the Senate and the Assembly released their own two-house budget proposal two weeks ago. Like the May Revision, their proposal also includes the $152.5 million reduction for CalHome. Importantly, staff advise that even if this proposal is adopted, there is still approximately $130 million remaining in bond funding for CalHome, so resources will continue for this program even after this General Fund solution is adopted."
Habitat for Humanity California's Executive Director Debbie Arakel says the program and affordable ownership is still in jeopardy.
"We know balancing a budget is not easy and unfortunately the remaining funds have given the legislature and the administration a false sense that CalHome is OK. There is no guarantee that the CalHome program will continue and the scheduled application for funding has been put on hold. CalHome and affordable ownership is in jeopardy," said Arakel.
The deadline to finalize the California state budget is June 15.
