California to Consider Making Housing a ‘Fundamental Human Right’

Housing under construction at a development in Novato, Calif., on March 23, 2022. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

After a failed attempt three years ago, the California Legislature will again consider an amendment to the state constitution to make housing a “fundamental human right.”

Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) introduced Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) 10 on March 8. The measure would declare that everyone in the state has the right to adequate housing.

“We have a housing crisis,” Haney’s spokesman Nate Allbee told The Epoch Times. “Are we going to stand around and keep talking about the crisis or are we going to take some action? And this is a big step.”

According to the proposed measure, state and local governments would share the obligation to provide adequate housing for everyone on a “non-discriminatory and equitable basis.” The proposal is based on a view to fully realize the right “by all appropriate means ... to the maximum of available resources,” according to the measure’s text.

Allbee said: “It’s definitely our intent to go as far as we absolutely can with [ACA 10]. Even if it doesn’t pass, I think it’s important that we start the conversation.”

The amendment requires the approval of two-thirds of the members in both the Assembly and Senate. If it passes and is signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, it would be placed on a future ballot and decided by voters.

Under the proposal, the Golden State would become the first in the United States to recognize the right to housing in its constitution. It’s scheduled to be heard by a committee on April 6, according to the state legislative information site.

The change, though, could cost developers and local governments more money to build future housing projects, former Costa Mesa Mayor Jim Righeimer told The Epoch Times.

“Elected officials feel that if they vote for something, therefore it is,” Righeimer said. “There’s no such thing as affordable housing. All there is is subsidized housing. It’s really just a matter of who’s going to subsidize it. The 2-by-4s and concrete still cost money.”

A similar amendment was proposed in 2019 by then-Assemblyman Rob Bonta, now the state’s attorney general. Bonta’s bill failed to pass during the chaotic session as legislators wrestled with the COVID-19 pandemic issue.

A new condominium building is being built in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 2022. Allison Dinner/Getty Images

The ACLU Southern California and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE)—a nonprofit advocating for economic, racial, and social justice—have joined with Haney to sponsor this session’s amendment.

“A safe, affordable home shouldn’t just be a privilege for those who can afford California’s sky-high housing costs. Housing should be a right guaranteed to every Californian, no matter who you are,” ACCE wrote on Twitter on March 8.

The amendment would guarantee all Californians access to housing that is “permanent, habitable, affordable and culturally appropriate,” according to ACCE.

Eric Tars, legal director with the National Homeless Law Center in Washington—a national homelessness-prevention nonprofit—told The Epoch Times that making housing a human right means “the government is accountable to its people for making sure everybody is able to enjoy the right.”

According to a Housing Inventory Count conducted in January 2022 by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, California’s homeless population grew nearly 200 percent to 171,521 last year compared to 2021, totaling about 30 percent of all homeless in the United States.

Haney also introduced Assembly Bill 1532 on Feb. 27, which would allow governments to convert empty office buildings into affordable housing.