SAN DIEGO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today Calif. Governor Brown signed AB 639 by Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) which will repurpose funds to provide more affordable housing for homeless veterans and their families. Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi was Principal Co-author of this bill.
“As Chair of the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee, I cannot accept the fact that California leads the nation in the number of homeless veterans,” stated Assemblymember Muratsuchi. “Our veterans have risked their lives and fought for our freedom and it is only right that we now fight to protect them. Once approved by the voters, this will get the resources moving to help our veterans and their families.”
Currently, there is $900 million in general obligation (GO) bond authority to help veterans purchase farms or homes through the CalVet Farm and Home Loan Program. This GO bond authority was approved by voters through Proposition 12 in order to provide funds for the purchase of single family homes and farms; however, virtually none of the monies have been spent for these purposes. Counting previous unused bond authority, the CalVet Program has more than $1 billion in unused funds.
This law will repurpose $600 million of the unused bond authority for the CalVet Home Loan Program and authorizes issuance of bonds for the construction, rehabilitation and preservation of affordable multifamily housing and services for veterans and their families.
This law provides Californians the opportunity to vote on the June 2014 ballot to redirect the funds.
Assemblymember Muratsuchi represents the 66th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Gardena, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, the Los Angeles communities of Harbor City and Harbor Gateway, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Torrance and the unincorporated communities of El Camino Village and West Carson.
Please visit the Assemblymember’s website, http://asmdc.org/members/a66/ for more information.
