The California Senate has introduced a housing package of 10 bills to address the state's severe housing crisis. The package aims to create more affordable housing and homeownership opportunities through measures like establishing a housing bond, allowing residential development on commercial lots, streamlining environmental reviews, and increasing flexibility for homeowners to build additional units. The bills together comprise a comprehensive approach to boost housing production and stabilize housing for vulnerable groups.

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California is facing a severe housing crisis, and Californians need real housing
solutions.
The state will need an estimated 1.8 million new homes by 2025 in order to meet
demand, yet on average, only 80,000 new homes are built per year, according to
the Department of Housing and Community Development. As communities
throughout California work to accommodate projected growth, there is a unique
opportunity to pursue legislation and policies that support the needs of local
governments and Californians.
In an effort to create housing opportunities and solutions for California, Senate
President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego), and Senators Anna Caballero
(D-Salinas), Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), along
with Senators María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), Lena Gonzalez (D-Long
Beach), Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), Richard Roth (D-Riverside), and Susan
Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), have introduced the “Building Opportunities for All” Senate
Housing Package.
The package of bills empowers homeowners who want to help solve the crisis,
provides more land-use tools and flexibility to meet the needs of local governments
and community partners, and streamlines procedural hurdles. With the continued
threat of COVID-19 and the danger it poses to workers and families without
adequate housing, addressing this issue is critical.
Individually, these bills each address a variety of causes that have contributed to
the lack of housing production in our state. Together, they make up a unified
approach to this challenge, creating pathways to home ownership, stable housing

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for vulnerable families, and a pathway to economic stability for individuals and
families.
THE BILL PACKAGE
SB 5 Senate Housing Bond
(Atkins, Caballero, McGuire, Roth, Rubio, Skinner, Wiener)
Senate Bill 5 establishes the initial framework for a statewide housing bond that would fund the
creation of new, affordable housing for homeless and low-income families.
Read Senate Bill 5 (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?
bill_id=202120220SB5)
SB 6 The Neighborhood Homes Act
(Caballero)
Senate Bill 6 authorizes residential development on existing lots currently zoned for commercial
office and retail space such as strip malls or large “big box” retail spaces. The bill requires the
development of residential units be at a minimum density to accommodate affordable housing
and abide by existing local planning and development ordinances.
Read Senate Bill 6 (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?
bill_id=202120220SB6)
SB 7 The Housing + Jobs Expansion
& Extension Act
(Atkins)

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Senate Bill 7 seeks to improve the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process by
extending and expanding provisions of AB 900, which streamlined paperwork and expedited
legal challenges to large, multi-benefit housing, energy, and manufacturing projects. SB 7
would extend the 2021 ‘sunset’ of AB 900, which created jobs and investment in the state,
through 2025.
Read Senate Bill 7 (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?
bill_id=202120220SB7)
SB 8
(Skinner)
California is in an extreme housing shortage. We now rank 49th in the number of housing units
per capita and are home to 33 of the 50 US cities with the highest rents. SB 8 will address our
housing crisis by focusing on opportunities to ensure housing production can continue to move
forward in the state.
Read Senate Bill 8 (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?
bill_id=202120220SB8)
SB 9 California Housing Opportunity
& More Efficiency (HOME) Act
(Atkins)
Senate Bill 9 promotes small-scale neighborhood residential development by streamlining the
process for a homeowner to create a duplex or subdivide an existing lot in residential areas.
This bill builds on the successful approach of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and expands
options for homeowners who wish to be part of the solution in solving California’s housing
crisis.
Read Senate Bill 9 (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?
bill_id=202120220SB9)
SB 10
(Wiener)
SB 10 allows cities to upzone areas close to job centers, transit, and existing urbanized areas
to allow up to ten units without having to go through the lengthy CEQA process. SB 10 will
make it easier for cities to build housing affordable to young people and working families.

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Read Senate Bill 10 (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?
bill_id=202120220SB10)