AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2026
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 9, 2026
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2026
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
96
Introduced by Assembly Member Johnson
February 18, 2026
An act to add Article 6 (commencing with Section 53399) to Chapter 2.99 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code, relating to local government.
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal committee: yes Local program: yes
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to designate a proposed enhanced infrastructure financing district to finance public capital facilities or other specified projects of communitywide significance that provide significant benefits to the district or the surrounding community, including, among other things, the acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation of housing for persons of very low, low, and moderate income for rent or purchase, as specified. Existing law authorizes an infrastructure financing plan to contain a provision for the division of taxes levied upon taxable property in the area included within the district, district and authorizes the public financing
authority of the district to issue bonds, as provided.
This bill would establish the Workforce Housing Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Act, which would authorize a city or county to establish a workforce housing enhanced infrastructure financing district (district) if certain requirements are met, including the adoption of an infrastructure financing plan as specified. The bill would prescribe requirements applicable to those districts. Among these requirements, the bill would prescribe requirements for the construction of residential housing that meets specified occupancy and affordability criteria. The bill would provide definitions for its provisions.
The bill would authorize the governing board to issue bonds, subject to approval by ⅔ of the voters voting on the proposition. The bill would prescribe requirements for the issuance of the bond pursuant to its provisions. The bill would further require a district, which finances affordable housing units through the bond, to maintain the housing units at affordable housing costs through a recorded covenant or restriction, as specified. By adding to the duties of local elections officials with respect to administering the above-described provisions, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Article 6 (commencing with Section 53399) is added to Chapter 2.99 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code, to read:
Article 6. Workforce Housing Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Act
This article shall be known as the Workforce Housing Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Act.
For purposes of this article:
(a) “District” means a workforce housing enhanced infrastructure financing district established pursuant to this article.
(b) “Education personnel” means a teacher or school district employee, as defined in Section 53572 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) (1) “Manufacturing personnel” means individuals employed in a business with the primary activity of converting or conditioning tangible personal property by changing the form, composition, quality, or character of that property either for ultimate sale at retail or for use in the manufacturing of a product that will be ultimately sold at retail.
(2) “Manufacturing” includes any improvements to tangible personal property that result in a greater service life or greater functionality than that of the original property.
(d) “Public safety personnel” means firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians.
A city or county may establish a district by doing all of the following:
(a) Adopting a resolution of intention pursuant to Section 53398.59.
(b) Finding by resolution that the city or county is in compliance with Section 8899.50.
(c) Adopting an infrastructure financing plan pursuant to Section 53398.63 that satisfies all of the following requirements:
(1) Requires a review to ensure compliance with the requirements of this section every 10 years.
(2) Requires any housing development project financed by the
district to meet either both of the following:
(A) All residential units within the housing development are reserved for occupancy by public safety personnel, education personnel, health care personnel, or manufacturing personnel, except that members of the public may be allowed to occupy residential units created by this section, subject to applicable laws and regulations, and the residential units serve lower income or moderate income households.
(i) The district may retain the right to prioritize public safety personnel, education personnel, health care personnel, or manufacturing personnel over members of the public to occupy housing.
(ii) Housing developments consistent with subparagraph (A) shall be subject to the duty of public agencies to affirmatively further fair housing pursuant to Chapter 15 (commencing with Section 8899.50) of Division 1 of Title 2, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (Part. 2.8 (commencing with Section 12900) of Division 3 of Title 2), the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Section 51 of the Civil Code), and the federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 3601 et seq).
(B) All residential units within the housing development are subject to a recorded deed restriction which shall require that at least 70 percent of the units serve lower income households and that the remaining 30 percent of the units serve moderate-income households.
(3) The housing development consists of single-family housing, multifamily housing, or mixed-use development, provided that, if the housing development is a mixed-use development, at least 80 percent of the total square footage of the structure shall be dedicated to residential use.
(4) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(A) “Lower income households” has the same meaning as in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(B) “Moderate income household” has the same meaning as “persons and families of low or moderate income” in Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code.
(a) The district shall require, by recorded covenants or restrictions, that affordable housing units financed pursuant to this article remain available at affordable housing costs for the longest feasible time, but not less than 55 years for rental units and 45 years for owner-occupied units.
(b) The district shall follow the procedure for issuing tax increment bonds described in Article 4 (commencing with Section 53398.77), except that the governing board shall submit the proposal to issue the bonds to the voters who reside within the district. The election shall be conducted in the same manner as the election to create the district and the two elections may be consolidated.
(c) The bonds authorized by this section may be issued if two-thirds of the voters voting on the proposition vote in favor of issuing the bonds.
(d) If the voters approve the issuance of the bonds as provided by subdivision (b), the governing board shall proceed with the issuance of the bonds by adopting the resolution described in Section 53398.77.
(e) If any proposition submitted to the voters pursuant to this article is defeated by the voters, the governing board shall not submit, or cause to be submitted, a similar proposition to the voters for at least one year after the first election.
SEC. 2.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.