(Sacramento, CA – Sept. 20, 2021) Today Mayor Darrell Steinberg joined Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge and other local, state, and Tribal leaders to launch HUD’s House America initiative. This initiative, coupled with the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better Agenda will provide a once in a generation opportunity to tackle the national housing and homelessness crisis.

The City of Sacramento, in partnership with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, (SHRA), has been a leader in creating permanent supportive housing in the Sacramento region. The city is actively bringing online hundreds of units of supportive housing through motel conversions by leveraging both federal and state dollars in partnership with Governor Newsom’s office. At the September 14 council meeting, the Sacramento City Council committed $41 million, over one-third, of the city’s ARP dollars to the implementation of Mayor Steinberg’s comprehensive homeless siting plan. Once implemented, the 21 sites approved as part of the plan will allow the city to bring over 5,300 unhoused residents into safe, dignified shelter.

During the House America initiative launch, Mayor Steinberg committed to working hand in hand with HUD and other local, state, and federal partners to support the initiative and committed to do everything he can to encourage Congress to pass all the elements of the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better Agenda. At this moment, Congress has a generational opportunity to invest in affordable and low incoming housing stock to ensure safe and climate resilient homes into the future.

“Housing is a fundamental right and bipartisan issue,” said Mayor Steinberg. “Housing is a part of the fabric of our cities and communities and the President’s Build Back Better Agenda includes over $200 Billion of much needed resources for housing construction, low income, and public housing.”

President Joe Biden’s visit to Sacramento on September 13 dramatically illustrated why the nation needs to see the Build Back Better Agenda adopted. A day before touching down at Mather Field, the president declared a major disaster in our region due to the Caldor Fire, which according to CalFire’s latest report, has destroyed over one thousand structures and threatened more than five thousand, including the city of South Lake Tahoe.

*Caldor Fire at night, image courtesy of the US Forest Service*

Severe drought has become so common that the word “historic” is meaningless. Each summer and fall, fires threaten communities all over California and shroud many more in smoke. Climate change is not off in the future, it is here right now, threatening the livability of California.

Sacramento and the State of California have been proud leaders on these issues. California’s renewable electricity standard is one of the most ambitious in the country. Sacramento has launched electric car-share programs, is a leader in installing high-speed electric chargers, and passed an electrification ordinance in June 2021 that requires new low-rise residential and commercial development to go all electric by 2023. Despite this progress, climate change, housing, and homelessness cannot be solved on the state and local level alone; state and local governments need large-scale federal investments in housing creation, vouchers, electric vehicle manufacturing and the development of the next generation of clean energy innovations.

“We are at an inflection point in our nation’s history,” said Mayor Steinberg. “We can tip back into the politics of tribalism and hand-wringing over change, or we can step forward boldly and make the transformational investments necessary to build a more sustainable, equitable, and bright future for our country. As we just saw with the repudiation of the attempt to recall Gov. Newsom, voters will stand up and support bold, progressive leadership. They support science-based solutions and investments in uplifting all our communities. We must continue our momentum and fully enact President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda.”