Housing and Transportation Advocates Raise Alarm Over May Revise

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 14, 2025

Media Contact:  Zack Deutsch-Gross, Policy Director, Transform, [email protected], 415.637.0101

Karen Whitaker, Communications Director, Enterprise Community Partners, [email protected], 213.787.8236

Governor’s Cap-and-Invest proposal undercuts vital affordable housing and transportation commitments

Our organizations are deeply concerned that the Governor’s May Revised Budget Proposal does not commit to maintaining the continuous appropriations of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) to the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program (AHSC), the Transit & Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP), and the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP). 

Since the inception of all three programs in 2014, AHSC has helped fund over 20,000 affordable housing units near transit, plus related transportation improvements and mitigated over 5.7 million tons of greenhouse gases. TIRCP has funded over 250 transformative transit capital projects to modernize rail, bus, and ferry projects. LCTOP has funded over 1,100 operating and capital assistance projects to more than 200 public transit agencies across California, primarily benefiting disadvantaged communities.

“We urge lawmakers to preserve the continuous appropriations for affordable housing and public transit in final budget negotiations. These investments are vital to fighting climate change and the affordability crisis for low-income Californians,” said Zack Deutsch-Gross, Policy Director at Transform.

Ongoing investments in these critical housing and transportation programs are fundamental to the state’s ability to reduce carbon emissions and improve quality of life. Housing and transportation costs can eat up 59% of household income for moderate-income households living in California. A large majority of low-income Californians are severely cost-burdened by housing, and 18% don’t own a car, underscoring a need to live in affordable communities well-served by public transportation. 

“In addition to reducing 5.7 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and funding the creation of 20,361 new affordable homes, AHSC has resulted in 959 new buses, vans, and shuttles,1,512 miles of new and improved bike lanes, 28,000 transit passes and 47,000 construction-related jobs,” said California Housing Partnership President and CEO Matt Schwartz.  “AHSC is a proven solution to meeting the state’s climate and affordability goals and must be continuously funded or we risk further damaging state affordability and climate goals.”

“AHSC is the only significant ongoing source of funding for affordable housing in the state. With no new money for affordable housing production proposed in the Governor’s revised May budget, protecting the AHSC program is more important than ever so affordable housing production does not grind to a halt,” said Chione Flegal, Executive Director of Housing California.

“The transportation and housing sectors account for over one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions, and thus provide an enormous opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Vital housing and transportation programs must be maintained as part of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund,” said Eli Lipmen, Executive Director of MoveLA. 

Improving California’s Cap-and-Invest program is an essential way to address affordability, encourage economic prosperity, and advance equity for all Californians. Our organizations, along with over 100 additional housing, transportation, and community advocates across the state, have aligned around a unifying platform to protect and improve California’s Cap-and-Invest program.

For more information on the impacts of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program, see the AHSC Impact Report from Rounds 1-8 of the program. For more information about the Transit and Intercity Rail Corridor Program and the Low-Carbon Transit Operations Program, see California’s Climate Investment program website. 

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Public Advocates Inc. is a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization that challenges the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing, transportation equity, and climate justice.

Transform works to ensure that people of all incomes thrive in a world safe from climate chaos. We envision vibrant neighborhoods, transformed by excellent, sustainable mobility options and affordable housing, where those historically impacted by racist disinvestment now have power and voice.

Move LA is a coalition building nonprofit organization that led the effort to pass transformative mobility solutions through Measures R (2008) and M (2016) in LA County that fund public transit operations, capital projects, and maintenance. We build broad-based coalitions involving diverse stakeholders seeking bold solutions to the biggest challenges facing the region—mobility, affordable housing and homelessness, air quality and climate change. 

Enterprise Community Partners is a national nonprofit that exists to make a good home possible for the millions of families without one. We support community development organizations on the ground, aggregate and invest capital for impact, advance housing policy at every level of government, and build and manage communities ourselves.

Housing California is a statewide non-profit advocacy organization focused on increasing the supply of safe, stable, affordable homes; ending homelessness, protecting renters, and addressing the racial and economic inequities in our housing system.

The California Housing Partnership is a private nonprofit created by the Legislature in 1988 with the public mission of increasing the supply of affordable and sustainable homes through technical assistance and policy leadership at the state and national level. Since 1988, the Partnership’s on-the-ground technical assistance, applied research, and legislative leadership has leveraged more than $37 billion in private and public financing to preserve and create more than 96,000 affordable homes and to provide training to more than 46,000 people.