LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
A variety of emerging issues and legislation can affect the thousands of families the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) serves through its rental assistance, homelessness solutions and affordable housing programs.
SDHC actively monitors legislative and regulatory activities and engages regularly with elected officials and stakeholders. SDHC leverages its subject-matter expertise and insights to provide targeted policy recommendations and advocate for measures that strengthen housing stability and expand housing solutions in the City of San Diego.
SDHC works at the local, state, and federal levels of government to advance policies aligned with its vision, mission, purpose, core values, and strategic priorities.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING PRESERVATION FUND
Building on SDHC’s extensive efforts over the past several years at the direction of the City Council’s Land Use and Housing Committee, the City Council on June 29, 2026, approved SDHC’s creation of its first funding initiative focused solely on preserving existing deed-restricted or naturally occurring affordable housing. Through SDHC, the City Council has directed the creation of a dedicated fund specifically to support activities to keep existing rental homes affordable in the City of San Diego.
SDHC’s 2020 study “Preserving Affordable Housing in the City of San Diego” estimated that more than 13,000 existing affordable housing units in the city could lose their affordability by 2040. Of those, approximately 4,200 were deed-restricted units and may lose their affordability restrictions, and 9,250 were naturally occurring affordable housing units vulnerable to becoming market-rate units. The study further estimated that 35 percent of new housing production would simply replace units that lost their affordability if no intervention occurred to preserve existing affordable housing in the City of San Diego.
The City Council approved the transfer of $8.5 million to SDHC to start the Affordable Housing Preservation Fund and, acting as the Housing Authority of the City of San Diego, authorized SDHC to create the fund.
Proposals for the specific uses of the money in the new Affordable Housing Preservation Fund will be presented to the City Council or Housing Authority in the future for consideration. Potential uses for the funds include, but are not limited to, combining the funds with other funding sources to employ strategies to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing properties and establish requirements for those housing units to remain affordable long-term.
This fund advances the city’s strategy for affordable housing preservation. Since 2020, the City Council has:
- Approved actions to implement a strategy for affordable housing preservation.
- Established the Neighborhood Enhancement Fee, with the requirement that 50 percent of funds be spent on affordable housing preservation.
- Allocated Neighborhood Enhancement Fee funds in the City’s Fiscal Year 2026 and Fiscal Year 2027 budgets for an affordable housing preservation fund.
- Approved an Affordable Housing Preservation Ordinance.
- Authorized the creation of the Affordable Housing Preservation Fund.
SDHC SPONSORED STATE BILL
During the 2025-2026 California legislative session, SDHC sponsored state legislation to connect affordable housing developments in San Diego to utilities faster by establishing clearer utility energization timelines. California State Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins authored Assembly Bill (AB) 2518, which also received strong support from San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).
The California State legislature passed AB 2518, and Governor Gavin Newsom signed it into law on September 27, 2026.
SDHC Vice President of Policy Francis Barraza testified in support of the bill at the April 22, 2026, meeting of the California State Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee and the June 8, 2026, meeting of the California State Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee.
AB 2518 establishes a pilot program to address significant, unpredictable delays that affordable housing developments in San Diego have faced with utility energization after construction is substantially complete. These delays occur even when a development has completed all pre-energization requirements and is physically ready for connection. The delays impose substantial financial harm on affordable housing developments, which operate on thin margins and are subject to strict compliance deadlines under their financing structures. Additionally, these delays postpone or prevent the most underserved and vulnerable San Diegans from getting a roof over their head.
AB 2518 corrects an operational practice that can put affordable housing developments at a disadvantage by treating them the same as standard residential or commercial new connections despite the distinct public benefit, significant public investment and financing urgency that these projects carry.
For example, SDHC’s Pacific Village property, funded in part by the State Homekey program, encountered an SDG&E-related connection delay. Pacific Village now provides 62 affordable rental housing units with supportive services for individuals who experienced homelessness, including veterans and transition-age youth. However, it was delayed by several weeks to obtain utility connection because of classification and energization delays. AB 2518 establishes a “Category 1,” 40-day timeline for affordable housing developments that would have provided assurance that Pacific Village would have been connected in a timely manner.
UPDATE:
U.S. Senator’s Roundtable and Tour
On July 2, 2026, SDHC welcomed U.S. Senator Adam Schiff to Downtown San Diego for a roundtable discussion about housing policies and a tour of the Harrington Heights affordable housing development, built by Chelsea Investment Corporation, in collaboration with SDHC.
City Council President Joe LaCava, Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, SDHC President and CEO Lisa Jones, Chelsea Investment Corporation, which developed Harrington Heights, Alpha Project, which provides supportive services to the development’s residents, and the San Diego Housing Federation participated in this discussion.
The conversation included the Senator’s bill, the Housing BOOM Act, City of San Diego policies that support housing production, some of the challenges associated with financing and building affordable rental homes, and the essential collaboration among many partners that occurs in San Diego to create and preserve housing.
Harrington Heights is a truly exceptional housing community, serving families with unique needs, including housing dedicated to veterans and persons with developmental disabilities, providing high-quality apartment homes, on-site resources and access to a dynamic and resourced downtown area.
SDHC thanks Senator Schiff for his leadership and advocacy of important housing solutions.
ADVOCACY AND ENGAGEMENT
Throughout the year, SDHC engages with local, state and federal elected officials, advocacy and industry organizations, civic leaders and stakeholders on housing- and homelessness-related issues. These examples highlight a few of these engagements during FY 2026.
September 2025
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Region IX Administrator William Spencer visited SDHC for a meeting about Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers.
October 22, 2025
SDHC Senior Vice President of Real Estate Development Colin Miller participated in the Governor’s Office Housing Roundtable with Tomiquia Moss, the Secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency at that time.
March 5, 2026
SDHC President and CEO Lisa Jones participated in a LEAD San Diego presentation and discussion about housing and homelessness.
April 10, 2026
SDHC Vice President of Policy Francis Barraza participated in a news conference about Circulate Planning and Policy’s report, “Win-Win Bonus: How California’s Bonus Law quietly transformed housing approvals”
April 13, 2026
SDHC President and CEO Lisa Jones and Vice President of Policy Francis Barraza joined City Council President Joe LaCava and People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) on a trip to Sacramento to meet with state lawmakers. SDHC had the opportunity to connect with:
- State Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limon’s (D-Santa Barbara) staff.
- Governor Gavin Newsom’s Deputy Legislative Secretary Myles White.
- State Assemblymember Jess Gabriel’s (D-Encino) staff.
- State Senate Budget Subcommittee and State Senate Housing Committee Consultants.