By Vanguard Staff
SACRAMENTO – The California State Senate on Tuesday advanced a major housing finance bill designed to accelerate development and bring down rental costs by leveraging the state’s financial power. Authored by Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), SB 750—the California Finance and Credit Act—would allow California to back housing loans and municipal bonds with the state’s own credit, unlocking financing for stalled projects without drawing from the General Fund.
The measure passed the Senate and now heads to the Assembly for consideration.
SB 750 is part of a broader legislative package that includes a 2026 constitutional amendment asking voters to allow the state to apply its “full faith and credit” to housing-related financing. If approved, the move could pull in private capital currently sidelined by high risk and unfavorable lending terms.
“Cities throughout California cannot solve this housing and homeless crisis alone,” said Senator Cortese in a statement. “So we are going to the voters asking them to change the constitution to empower the state to use its good credit to help solve this problem for the first time in the state’s history.”
Supporters of the bill say it could unlock financing for hundreds of thousands of homes that have already been permitted but remain unbuilt due to lack of funding. Many of those projects are designated as affordable housing.
Ali Sapirman, policy manager at the Housing Action Coalition, praised the bill’s potential to turn planned units into real homes. “It’s clear we are in a housing crisis,” Sapirman said. “We have made great strides in planning for new housing. That work has resulted in more than half a million affordable homes being planned and permitted. They should be ready to go—but, in reality, they’re stuck because they are lacking the financing needed to move forward.”
Sapirman said SB 750 offers a bold and effective way to accelerate housing development without impacting the state’s General Fund. “Builders can access better loan terms, move projects forward faster, and do it without costing taxpayers a cent,” she said.
SB 750 joins a wave of legislative proposals aimed at addressing California’s persistent housing shortage, as the state continues to fall short of production goals required to meet population needs and affordability benchmarks. With over half of renters statewide spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, the stakes remain high.
The bill must now clear the Assembly and win voter approval of its accompanying constitutional amendment before it can be fully implemented.
From article: “Authored by Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), SB 750—the California Finance and Credit Act—would allow California to back housing loans and municipal bonds with the state’s own credit, unlocking financing for stalled projects without drawing from the General Fund.”
So, they’re basically proposing that the state “co-sign” loans (for proposals that already don’t “pencil out” in the marketplace), while simultaneously claiming that won’t come back to take a bite out of the General Fund. At a time when the state is ALREADY struggling. (Do they even have “good credit” at this point – to the point where they can be co-signing loans for developers?)
From article: “The bill must now clear the Assembly and win voter approval of its accompanying constitutional amendment before it can be fully implemented.”
Right – good luck with that (especially voter approval).
There’s also an effort to put forth a constitutional amendment to remove power from the state, in regard to all of the new housing laws. (But you can be sure that it’s not the legislature itself proposing that.)
One thing that I have figured out is that if the state has no money for Affordable housing, it’s going to have an even-more difficult time enforcing RHNA targets. So now you have TWO reasons to oppose this potential ballot measure. (Fiscal risk, and additional ammunition for the state to force cities to grow.)
There is no way I’d support additional funds for Affordable housing when the state has simultaneously declared war on cities in regard to their “mandates”.