Facts
Two bond proposals are moving through the Legislature, AB 736 (Wicks) and SB 417 (Cabaldon), to ensure both houses have a role in shaping these proposals. Both bills share the same name and the same goal: Authorizing a $10 billion bond that would go before voters on the June 2026 ballot.
A new housing bond will fund successful housing programs that support construction of affordable rental housing for lower-income families, expand homeownership opportunities for California workers, and provide housing for people experiencing homelessness.
What is the Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026?
California has more than 40,000 shovel-ready affordable housing units across the state waiting only on funding to move into construction. But resources from the state’s last housing bond in 2018 were exhausted last year, threatening affordable housing progress across the state.
With limited resources for housing in the state budget, new construction could grind to a halt without bond funding.
If California is serious about taking on its housing challenges, now is the critical time for a housing bond that provides the reliable, ongoing funding needed to stabilize the affordable housing pipeline.
Why does California need a new housing bond?
What a $10 Billion Bond Will Do
Produce more than 40,000 affordable homes for lower-income households
Preserve more than 5,500 existing housing units
Help more than 13,000 first-time homebuyers purchase a home
Create more than 53,000 construction jobs
Generate $1.3 billion in state and local tax revenue
Why are there two bond bills?
Asm. Wicks and Sen. Cabaldon are both prepared to lead efforts in their respective houses to advance a robust $10 billion bond that will support the production and preservation of the affordable housing lower-income Californians need.
The bills have been introduced in the Assembly and Senate to give members in both houses — and from every part of the state — the opportunity to shape final bond proposals.
What programs are funded by the bonds — and how much affordable housing would they help produce?
Both bills would put a $10 billion bond before voters, supporting a range of successful housing programs that would fund construction of more than 40,000 affordable homes, while preserving and rehabilitating thousands more and creating a wave of first-time homeownership opportunities.
The two bills have minor differences in the amount of funding individual programs would receive — issues that will be resolved as they move through the Assembly and Senate this year. This is how the two bonds currently fund housing programs:
AB 736 (Wicks)
$5 billion for the Multifamily Housing Program
$1.7 billion for supportive housing through the Multifamily Housing Program
$1 billion to be split between CalHome and CalHFA’s Downpayment Assistance Program
$800 million for the Portfolio Reinvestment Program
$250 million for the Tribal Housing Grant Program
$350 million for the Joe Serna Jr., Farmworker Housing Grant Program
$400 million for the Infill Infrastructure Grant Program
$500 million for the Community Anti-Displacement Preservation Program
SB 417 (Cabaldon)
$5.25 billion for the Multifamily Housing Program; some of these funds may be directed to the Infill Infrastructure Grant Program
$1.75 billion for supportive housing through the Multifamily Housing Program
$1 billion to be split between CalHome and CalHFA’s Downpayment Assistance Program
$800 million for the Portfolio Reinvestment Program
$250 million for the Tribal Housing Grant Program
$250 million for the Joe Serna Jr., Farmworker Housing Grant Program
$500 million for the Community Anti-Displacement Preservation Program
$200 million for wildfire prevention, rental assistance, and affordable housing construction program
