Mayor's work in Legislature pays off with affordable housing at 19th and Broadway
Jan. 31,2022
Friends,
Today at the City of Sacramento, myself and my colleagues on the City Council have worked hard to bend the arc of the city’s budget priorities toward investing in our neighborhoods, building desperately needed affordable housing and addressing homelessness.
The results may not be immediately apparent, but it’s important to remember that our decisions today will have an impact for years to come. I personally find it gratifying the see bills and spending items I pushed for in the Legislature continue to pay dividends in 2022.
One recent example is the new 150-unit affordable housing project set to start construction soon at 19th and Broadway.
In 2014, my last year as President Pro Tem of the state Senate, then-Gov. Jerry Brown proposed creating a continuous funding stream for high-speed rail from California’s Cap and Trade program. I supported high-speed rail, but also told the governor that we needed a permanent funding source for affordable housing near transit that would make it easier for people to get to work without spending hours in trafffic.
The governor and I made a deal. Twenty percent of the proceeds from the state’s Cap and Trade auctions would go to fund affordable housing projects near transit stations.
This month, seven years after I made that deal with the governor, the On Broadway project was awarded $29 million from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program created by my 2014 law. It will contain one, two and three-bedroom units for people with incomes ranging from 30 percent to 60 percent of Sacramento’s median income. Thirty seven of the units will be designated as permanent supportive housing with services for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
The new Mirasol affordable housing development in the River District was also funded in part by $18.8 million from this source; another $15.2 million went to affordable housing in The Railyards.
Pretty cool to see a forgotten bit of political deal-making still helping my city.
Sincerely,
Mayor Darrell Steinberg
