The first measure on California's Nov. 3 ballot is a housing bond, and it is a big one.
Proposition 1 would let the state sell $11.25 billion in general obligation bonds for housing, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office. That total has two parts: a $10 billion bond for state housing programs, repaid from the general fund, and a $1.25 billion bond for veterans' home loans that the veterans themselves repay through their mortgage payments.
The measure was placed on the ballot by the Legislature. It is separate from Prop. 37, the $25 billion down-payment loan fund also on this year's ballot.
Where the money would go
The analyst's office breaks the $10 billion down this way:
- $7.2 billion to buy, build or renovate rental housing such as apartment buildings, mostly through low-interest loans. Projects generally must keep units for low-income households for 55 years, and some money would go to supportive housing with on-site services.
- $1.1 billion for homeownership help for low- and moderate-income households, including first-time buyer loans that generally are not repaid until the home is sold or paid off.
- $500 million for infrastructure that supports affordable housing, such as water, sewer, parks and transportation.
- $450 million for farmworker housing.
- $350 million for affordable student housing, split evenly between the University of California and California State University.
- $200 million in grants to tribes and $200 million for local pilot projects that try to build housing at lower cost.
Combined with other public money, the bond would subsidize up to 40,000 apartments, about 2,500 farmworker units and about 1,200 student beds, and would help up to 40,000 households, including about 2,100 veterans, become homeowners, the analyst's office estimates.
The cost
Repaying the $10 billion portion would cost the general fund $500 million to $600 million a year for about 25 years, or about a quarter of 1% of the state's general fund budget, according to the analysis. With interest, the total would be about 15% more, after adjusting for inflation, than paying cash up front.
The veterans' loan program has always been covered by borrowers' payments, the office says.
The state's last affordable housing bond, approved in 2024, provided $2 billion for housing for veterans and others with mental health or substance use challenges who face homelessness.
