The San Francisco Housing Action Coalition (SFHAC) and Bay Area Housing Advocacy Coalition (BayHAC) are working to solve the region’s affordability and displacement crisis by creating new housing opportunities for residents at all income levels. Our City, region and state needs more affordable housing, more moderate-income housing, and more market-rate housing.
The HAC believes that the City of San Francisco needs to build 5,000 every year for the next 20 years and all policy goals need to be intended on helping us hit that annual goal. To help our City meet its challenges, we’re working to improve San Francisco’s development process to incentivize more affordable housing, ensure that what is built is well-designed and well-located, support new development with transportation and infrastructure improvements, and minimize unnecessary delays to building it.
We also provide accurate, real-time information to the public, policy makers, and elected officials about San Francisco’s housing crisis and proposed legislation. The SFHAC does not work alone, and will push its members, community stakeholders and City government to design and implement the policies and practices that will most effectively address our housing affordability crisis.
SFHAC and BayHAC 2020 POLICY AGENDA
Updated March 2020
The San Francisco Housing Action Coalition (SFHAC) and Bay Area Housing Advocacy Coalition (BayHAC) are working to solve our local and state affordability and displacement crises by creating new housing opportunities for residents at all income levels. Our city, region, and state need more affordable housing, more middle-income housing, and more market-rate housing.
The HAC believes that the city of San Francisco needs to build 5,000 homes every year for the next 20 years, and that our organizational and programming goals should further that mission. California has a statewide shortage of over 3.5 million new homes. To help our city and region meet these challenges, we’re working to improve the development process to incentivize more affordable housing, ensure that what is built is well-designed and well-located, to support new development with transportation and infrastructure improvements, and to minimize unnecessary costs and delays to building it.
We also provide accurate, real-time information to the public, policymakers, and elected officials about the Bay Area’s housing crisis and housing-related legislation. SFHAC and BayHAC do not do their work alone. We engage our members, community stakeholders, and all levels of city and county government in designing and implementing the policies and practices that will most effectively address our housing affordability crisis.
In 2020, HAC’s proposed policy agenda is as follows:
Housing Production Legislation
Learning from SB 50, SFHAC will work with our advocacy and elected allies to pass meaningful statewide housing production legislation. While last year was a win for housing “protection” bills, we need to get “production” bills passed in 2020. Early production bills we’ve endorsed include SB 899 and SB 902.
Local implementation of SB 330 and other laws
SB 330 passed in 2019, but local implementation remains opaque or non-existent at the local level. It’s important that SFHAC continues to push for the local implementation of this and other state laws; we’ll continue to engage in 2020 with efforts like contacting local governments, recording information from our members, and relaying data to Senator Skinner’s office and HCD.
Continue to Build Relationships with Leadership at San Francisco’s Changing Planning and Home-Building Departments
In 2020 SFHAC will continue to grow our network of connections with elected officials, home builders, and advocates, and to facilitate critical communication between top-level decision-makers.
CEQA Reform
CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, is frequently misused to obstruct new housing. We’ll work with stakeholders in the development, labor, and advocacy communities to find ways to improve the law while actually creating meaningful environmental protections.
SF Charter Amendment: November 2020 Ballot
SFHAC will work to pass Mayor London Breed’s proposed amendment to San Francisco’s City Charter. The Charter Amendment, Measure A on November’s ballot if the campaign succeeds in qualifying, would streamline the production of 100% subsidized affordable housing, teacher housing, and any mixed-income housing that has 15% more than the required number of inclusionary units.
Sustain and Expand Relationships with Local Businesses, Employers, and Elected Officials
Maintain and develop relationships with important local elected officials, such as Big City Mayors’ London Breed, Libby Schaaf, and Sam Liccardo plus smaller city elected officials around the Bay Area. SFHAC and BayHAC will continue to foster relationships with critical pro-housing allies in government and other important sectors in 2020.
Expand the Pro-Housing Tent
SFHAC and BayHAC will intentionally and continually engage diverse stakeholders such as faith communities, environmental and equity groups, labor unions, and more to learn about our areas of common interests and share resources about the importance of production and preservation in addressing the housing crisis.
Prop 13 Reform: Split Roll, November 2020
A “split roll” applies a different tax formula (either in the form of tax rate, reassessment frequency, or vote requirement) to commercial and industrial properties than that applied to residential properties. Proponents of a split roll would remove some of the protections of California’s Proposition 13 from nonresidential properties in order to raise
Current Initiatives