California Senate Bill SB981 Latest Draft

 BILL NUMBER: SB 981INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Nielsen FEBRUARY 10, 2016 An act to amend Section 987.005 of the Military and Veterans Code, relating to veterans. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 981, as introduced, Nielsen. Veterans: homelessness. Existing law, the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $600,000,000, as specified, for expenditure by the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide multifamily housing to veterans pursuant to the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014 (VHHPA). Existing law requires the departments to establish and implement programs that focus on veterans at risk for homelessness or experiencing temporary or chronic homelessness, as specified. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 987.005 of the Military and Veterans Code is amended to read: 987.005. (a) The departments shall establish and implement programs  pursuant to   for  the purposes of this article that focus on veterans at risk for homelessness or experiencing temporary or chronic homelessness. To the extent feasible, the departments shall establish and implement programs that, among other things, do the following: (1) Leverage public (federal, state, and local), private, and nonprofit program and fiscal resources. (2) Prioritize projects that combine housing and supportive services, including, but not limited to, job training, mental health and drug treatment, case management, care coordination, or physical rehabilitation. (3) Promote public and private partnerships. (4) Foster innovative financing opportunities. (5) Ensure program guidelines and terms provide threshold requirements or scoring criteria, or both, to advance applicants with experience in combining permanent or transitional housing, or both, with supportive services for veterans, or for partnering with housing developers or service providers with experience offering housing or services to veterans. (b) The departments shall ensure at least 50 percent of funds awarded for capital development under this article provide housing to veteran households with extremely low incomes, as defined in Section 50106 of the Health and Safety Code. (1) In determining whether a potential tenant is eligible for supportive, affordable, or transitional housing targeted to extremely low income households under this  provision,   subdivision,  eligibility shall take into consideration all of a household's income sources upon initial tenancy. (2) At least 60 percent of units funded targeting extremely low income households shall be supportive housing. (3) This section shall not deter the departments from funding projects serving mixed-income populations. (c) The departments may review, adopt, amend, and repeal guidelines or terms, or both, to implement this article.  Any guidelines   Guidelines  or terms adopted to implement this article shall not be subject to  Chapter   the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter  3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government  Code.   Code).  (d) Nothing in this article permits the departments or the board to purchase, operate, or manage properties except in the event of a foreclosure on a borrower or grantee.