LOS ANGELES, CA — Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) announced the Housing for All Act, a comprehensive approach to address the homelessness and affordable housing crises in California and across the nation. The bicameral legislation would invest in proven solutions and provide a historic level of federal funding both for strategic, existing programs to keep people housed and reduce homelessness as well as for innovative, locally developed solutions to help vulnerable populations experiencing homelessness. Representatives Ted Lieu and Salud Carbajal (D-CA) introduced the House companion version of Senator Padilla’s legislation in the Senate.
Lieu and Padilla unveiled the legislation today at a Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) Project Homekey Site alongside local housing leaders, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, HACLA President and CEO Douglas Guthrie, Business Consumer Services and Housing (BCSH) Secretary Tomiquia Moss and California State Association of Counties (CSAC) Executive Committee member Luis Alejo. The investments in the Housing for All Act would build on the creative solutions that cities and states across California have successfully developed.
“A lack of affordable housing remains a persistent and troubling problem in Los Angeles County and communities around the country,” said Congressman Lieu. “Following the COVID-19 pandemic and an ensuing increase in the cost of living, the economic and social factors that contribute to homelessness have worsened. It is imperative that we address this issue head-on now. Homelessness is a complicated challenge that requires a multi-faceted and collaborative approach. I’m pleased to join Senator Padilla and Congressman Carbajal on this comprehensive legislation to address the affordable housing shortage and implement proven, community-driven solutions to homelessness. I also want to recognize another one of our leaders, Representative Maxine Waters, for her tireless work in Congress to expand affordable housing and combat homelessness.”
“Housing is a basic human right, not a privilege,” said Senator Padilla. “The lack of affordable housing hurts Americans nationwide and disproportionately affects low-income communities and communities of color. Officials across California know that we have the tools to end homelessness and lower the cost of housing for Americans, but we need significant federal investments to scale up creative and effective housing solutions. I am reintroducing the Housing for All Act to finally treat the homelessness and affordable housing crises with the seriousness they deserve — and I won’t stop this fight until every person has a place to call home.”
“When I served alongside Senator Padilla and Congressman Lieu, I was proud to support the ‘Housing for All Act,’ which would provide desperately needed federal resources to develop more affordable housing and reduce homelessness. This bill invests in federal programs that have a proven track record of saving lives and support local strategies like the City’s Inside Safe initiative that are working to get Angelenos off the streets, into interim housing, and ultimately, into permanent housing. Thank you Senator Padilla and Congressman Lieu for your leadership on this lifesaving bill,” said Mayor Bass.
“The Housing for All Act is comprehensive legislation package that will help us address the core issues of homelessness and affordable housing in California and across the nation — and includes provisions that address this crisis from all angles, including my Safe Parking Program legislation modeled after Santa Barbara County’s groundbreaking work helping people experiencing homelessness,” said Representative Carbajal. “This is one of the biggest issues facing our state, and that’s why we need big solutions to fix it. I’m proud to join Senator Padilla and Congressman Lieu to push this major step toward our goal of ensuring every American has a roof over their head.”
“As an agency dedicated to housing our most vulnerable Angelinos, we are deeply appreciative of partners like Senator Padilla who are dedicated to making this goal a reality,” said Doug Guthrie, President & CEO of HACLA. “Senator Padilla’s all-hands-on-deck approach to developing housing solutions and his advocacy for increased federal funding and resources is exactly what we need to expand the supply of affordable housing here in Los Angeles.”
“We are grateful to Senator Padilla for his Housing For All legislation to help address the housing and homelessness crises in California and the rest of the nation,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Tomiquia Moss. “California has invested billions for housing and homelessness, but it will take all of us – federal, state, local, and tribal governments – working together to meet our housing needs and to prevent and end homelessness.”
“The California State Association of Counties (CSAC) applauds Senator Padilla for his continued commitment to address the single largest factor in combatting homelessness: the severe lack of affordable housing across our state,” said Graham Knaus, CSAC Chief Executive Officer. “The updated Housing For All Act also supports vital collaborations between county, city and state efforts to address homelessness in recognition of the complex needs of some unsheltered individuals. CSAC and California’s counties strongly support Senator Padilla’s Housing For All Act and urge Congress to act on the measure as soon as possible.”
The lack of affordable housing access and the population of individuals experiencing homelessness are growing crises impacting Americans nationwide, disproportionately affecting communities of color and low-income communities. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Out of Reach 2023 Report, no state or county exists where a person working 40 hours a week and earning the state or local minimum wage can afford to rent a modest two-bedroom apartment. In fact, the average minimum wage earner would need to work 104 hours per week — the equivalent of two and a half full-time jobs — to afford a two-bedroom rental home.
The Housing for All Act would take an all-hands-on-deck approach to combat these crises, including investments from the federal government in housing solutions. Specifically, the bill would:
“Senator Padilla’s Housing for All Act recognizes the extraordinary work performed during the pandemic by local homelessness systems and would provide them with robust resources, including significant new investments in the Continuum of Care and Emergency Solutions Grants programs as well as Housing Choice Vouchers and Project-Based Rental Assistance,” said Steve Berg, Chief Policy Officer at the National Alliance to End Homelessness. “In addition to providing resources, Senator Padilla’s legislation would promote innovative policies like using motels and hotels for permanent supportive housing and specific efforts to help house the growing numbers of individuals and families experiencing vehicular homelessness.”
“Rents are sky high, eviction filings have surpassed pre-pandemic levels, and more people are facing housing insecurity, eviction, and homelessness,” said Diane Yentel, President and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “More than ever, bold policies are needed to significantly expand federal investments in affordable, accessible housing for the nation’s lowest-income and most marginalized households. I applaud Senator Padilla for introducing the ‘Housing for All Act,’ which provides the robust investments in deeply affordable, accessible housing, universal rental assistance, and homelessness response services needed to end homelessness and housing poverty once and for all.”
“As housing cost and homelessness continue to rise for older adults, it is time for the bold steps laid out in the Housing for All Act. The bill is a much-needed response to the longstanding underinvestment in critical housing resources, which has left our country with a woefully insufficient supply of affordable housing for older adults,” said Katie Smith Sloan, President & CEO, LeadingAge. “For example, the bill’s $2.5 billion investment in HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program would mean tens of thousands of new homes, as well as new Service Coordinators to help older adult residents age in community. LeadingAge applauds Senator Padilla on the reintroduction of this legislation, and we look forward to doing all we can to secure its enactment.”
“The California Housing Partnership strongly supports Senator Padilla’s Housing for All Act providing expanded federal resources to address the acute shortage of affordable homes, that has been pushing families and individuals into overcrowded situations and homelessness in California,” said Matt Schwartz, President and CEO of the California Housing Partnership.
“The research is clear – lack of affordable housing is at the root of many societal issues, including health and educational disparities,” said Professor Matthew Desmond of Princeton University’s Eviction Lab. “I’m glad to see Senator Padilla put forward legislation that attacks the core problems of housing insecurity and homelessness in America. As COVID -19 eviction protections lift, passing the Housing for All Act would be life changing for the millions of Americans who don’t have access to affordable housing and are currently facing eviction.”
The Housing for All Act of 2023 has been endorsed by organizations and stakeholders including the National Alliance to End Homelessness, National Low Income Housing Coalition, Matt Desmond of the Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, LeadingAge, National Rural Housing Coalition, UnidosUS, US Conference of Mayors, Corporation for Supportive Housing, Covenant House, Liberation in a Generation, Self-Help Enterprises, California State Association of Counties, County Welfare Directors Association of California, and more.
A one-pager of the Housing for All Act of 2023 is available here.
A section-by-section of the bill is available here.
Full text of the bill is available here.
Background on Rep. Lieu’s work fighting homelessness:
Since he was elected to the House of Representatives, Congressman Lieu has acted with urgency to confront the homelessness and housing crises, having authored and co-authored numerous pieces of federal legislation on this critical issue with several provisions signed into law. To address the root causes of homelessness, he introduced the Fighting Homelessness Through Services and Housing Act. This bill authorizes $1 billion annually for five years for grants to local and tribal government entities for the implementation of homelessness programs, with a requirement to demonstrate the capacity to address areas such as mental health, substance use disorders, chronic health conditions, and job and educational training. In addition, he introduced the Prevent Homelessness Act, a bill to help Americans get ahead of homelessness by creating a $500 million Housing Stabilization Fund to cover expenses such as rent, utility, legal services, and more.
Rep. Lieu has also prioritized eliminating veteran homelessness in Los Angeles County and across the country. He firmly believes that no one who served our country should ever go without housing. That’s why he helped usher through a Master Plan to revitalize the West LA VA campus to better serve our veterans. With a broadly supported plan in place, Congressman Lieu and Senator Feinstein passed legislation to allow the VA to enter into public-private agreements to develop nearly 2,000 permanent supportive housing units for homeless veterans. Rep. Lieu and Senator Feinstein also passed legislation to ensure that lease revenue at the West LA VA campus go directly toward housing and other services for veterans. This legislation was signed into law by President Biden in 2021. In 2022, the Members introduced a measure to allow funds specifically generated by easements at the campus to go toward housing for veterans, which was also signed into law as part of the annual defense authorization bill. More broadly, Congressman Lieu was a vocal supporter and co-author of the PACT Act, a comprehensive new federal law that provides more than $350 million for housing developments at the West LA VA.
In addition to passing federal legislation to confront our nation’s homelessness and housing crises, Congressman Lieu has also supported numerous local homelessness response efforts in Los Angeles County. In Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, he secured over $13.5 million in federal funding for various local homelessness projects. These include a mobile crisis response pilot program in Hermosa Beach, a behavioral health center in Santa Monica, a workforce re-entry program at St. Joseph Center in Venice, a temporary housing program in Torrance, and more. Congressman Lieu believes securing funding to support organizations directly involved in the community is critical to reducing homelessness. He also supports robust funding for federal housing programs through the government appropriations process each year.
