U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California, stood on the rooftop of an affordable housing development in San Francisco to introduce new legislation aimed at boosting construction.
“We need to be building a lot more housing all throughout California — housing that is affordable, housing that meets the needs of families up and down the state of California, and indeed, all over the country,” he said in a speech on Friday.
His Housing BOOM Act — Building Occupancy Opportunity for Millions Act — would triple the size of federal low-income housing tax credits.
“This is legislation that would make a massive new investment in building affordable homes for middle-income and lower-income families, to make it possible for young people to own a home or be able to pay their rent,” Schiff said.
Schiff announced his legislation alongside San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, former Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, and Potrero Power Station developer Enrique Landa.
They stood on the roof of the Sophie Maxwell Building, a new affordable housing project at the site of the Potrero Power Station.
The redevelopment project is transforming the space of a former power plant into a large-scale, mixed-use area. Maxwell helped fight to close the polluting power plant when she was supervisor.
Lurie said that the apartment building, which opened in October, is the type of housing project that could be replicated across the country through Schiff’s legislation.
“This is exactly what the Housing BOOM Act will do,” Lurie said. “The investments that the Housing BOOM Act would bring to San Francisco are invaluable, and I’m proud to support Senator Schiff’s initiative to improve housing and development in San Francisco and across California.”
The act would also allocate $10 billion in an annual loan fund and $5 million in an annual grant program for middle-income housing.
“This bill will massively increase the federal incentives to build housing that people can afford,” Schiff said. “It will provide new revenue sources, new means of making it possible.”
Getting the act passed in Congress may be a challenge since Republicans control both the House and the Senate.
But with affordability and the cost of living being one of the top concerns for many Americans, Schiff is hoping that the issue will receive more bipartisan support.
“I hope that this bill will prompt my Republican friends to understand the affordability problem that is confronting families first and foremost,” Schiff said. “There’s no meeting the promises the president made during his campaign unless we’re building a lot more housing.”