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Why Thrive LA supports 1

Proposition 1 authorizes $11.25 billion in state general obligation bonds to fund affordable housing programs: $10 billion for multifamily rental housing, homeownership assistance, farmworker and student housing, supportive housing, and infrastructure, plus $1.25 billion for veterans home loans. The bond would cost taxpayers $500 million to $600 million annually for roughly 25 years in debt service, with total repayment (including interest) reaching $12.5 to $15 billion. Thrive LA supports Proposition 1, but with clear eyes. This is not how we would design housing policy from scratch. Government bonds are an expensive way to finance housing, and every dollar spent on debt service is a dollar unavailable for tax relief or regulatory reform. The measure does nothing to reduce permitting barriers, CEQA delays, or zoning restrictions that remain the single largest obstacle to housing production in California. Subsidized units built with these funds carry 55-year affordability covenants that layer bureaucratic restrictions onto the housing stock for generations. So why support it? Because California's housing crisis is an emergency, and this bond will put shovels in the ground. Up to 40,000 multifamily rental units, 40,000 homeownership assistance loans, 2,500 farmworker housing units, and 1,200 university student beds represent real shelter for real people. The $1.25 billion veterans home loan program is entirely self-financing (veterans repay the bonds through their mortgages), making it a zero-cost tool for the people who served this country. And $500 million for infill infrastructure removes one of the key bottlenecks that delays even market-rate development: the roads, water, and sewer connections that new housing requires. In a state where regulatory reform moves at a glacial pace, bond-funded production is an imperfect but necessary bridge. The measure also includes $1.15 billion for supportive housing with on-site services for homeless and at-risk populations. We would prefer that these dollars come with stronger accountability requirements, including expectations around sobriety and treatment participation. But the alternative is not a better bill. The alternative is no new housing production at all while Sacramento debates. Proposition 1 is a practical tool in a crisis that demands action now.