Hi John,

Earlier this month, Governor Gavin Newsom released his 2026-27 budget proposal, which does not include any new state funds for existing affordable housing programs. 

We’ve been here before, and we know what we need to do next. In recent years the January budget proposal has had us start negotiations from scratch, despite the meaningful, measurable progress that we’re making every year in housing more of our neighbors.

As Assemblymember and chair of the California Assembly’s budget committee, Jesse Gabriel said today, “the lack of resources for housing in the governor’s budget is impossible to ignore and it does not reflect our prior commitments or our values. We can and must do better…”

With one-time resources from last year’s budget and the last housing bond exhausted — and the looming threat of federal cuts — now is not the time to scale back our progress, but double down on it.

👉 Our Key Takeaway The nine-county Bay Area, like all parts of the state, relies on budget-funded programs that are critical to the construction, preservation, and operation of the affordable housing that supports our neighbors — from teachers and nurses to people exiting homelessness — and are all zeroed out in this initial budget proposal. In 2025, these programs delivered over $333 million in funding to affordable housing in the Bay Area. Programs like the Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) and Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) are not affected by the budget and will continue to direct funding to the Bay Area in the coming year. But if the final version of this year’s budget retains cuts to budget-funded programs, the Bay Area will collectively face a significant setback in funding to build the housing our communities need.

📋 We’re Offering a Plan NPH is part of a large, diverse statewide coalition offering lawmakers a different path forward: a unified funding proposal for the priority housing and homelessness programs our state needs to serve our communities. This proposal is responsive to our current funding environment, which recognizes our state budget forecast, as well as the federal threats, while centering Californians’ greatest needs.

🏗️ The Stakes Across the state, nearly 45,000 shovel-ready affordable homes are waiting on funding to move forward into construction. As currently proposed, this budget would leave these blueprints on the shelf to gather dust, with no clear path to getting funding, even as need increases.

👷 What You Can Do Next As negotiations get underway, there will be opportunities for you to weigh in with legislators and decision-makers about the importance of state funding to your critical work in building, operating, and sustaining affordable housing for Californians. Our collective task over the next five months of this budget process will be to ensure the final 2026-27 state budget enacted in June reflects the urgency called for in this moment. We can’t afford to sit this fight out.

💪 Ready to Take Action? We can do this if our affordable housing movement shows up in strength. Help us shape our policy priorities ahead, including state budget advocacy. 

Onward,

J.T. Harechmak,
NPH Policy Director