HomeMy WebLinkAboutACA 1 - City of SLO SUPPORT Letter
August 29, 2023
The Honorable Cecilia Aguiar-Curry
Member, California State Assembly
1021 O Street, Room 8320
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: ACA 1 (Aguiar-Curry) Local government financing: affordable housing and public
infrastructure: voter approval.
Notice of SUPPORT (07/13/2023)
Dear Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry,
The City of San Luis Obispo is pleased to support your measure ACA 1, which would lower to 55
percent the voter-approval threshold for cities, counties, or special districts to fund critical public
infrastructure and affordable housing.
Maintaining and improving local infrastructure and having an adequate supply of affordable
housing is critical for local economic development and quality of life. However, a major
discrepancy exists between state and local governments when seeking voter approval for such
investments. When the state seeks voter approval for a statewide measure – such as past voter
approvals of measures to extend the income tax or the recently approved housing bond – it
requires a simple majority, but when a city or county seeks voter approval for a similar
investment they face a stringent two-thirds vote threshold. This makes no sense.
The law, however, is different for school construction. Nearly 23 years ago, the state’s voters
agreed (Prop. 39 of 2000) that the two-thirds threshold was too strict for investments in school
construction and lowered that threshold to 55 percent. That model has worked well over the
past two decades. Cities need similar flexibility when seeking voter approval for investments in
public infrastructure and affordable housing.
ACA 1 offers voters an opportunity to consider treating investments in local infrastructure and
affordable housing in a similar manner as schools. California voters have demonstrated – through
their past approval of major state school, housing, and water bonds – that they understand the
importance of investing in their future. Let’s pass ACA 1 and provide voters with an opportunity
to weigh in on local investments on infrastructure and affordable housing – issues that are so
critical to the state’s future, prosperity, and quality of life.
For these reasons, the City of San Luis Obispo supports ACA 1.
Sincerely,
Erica A. Stewart
Mayor
City of San Luis Obispo
cc: Senator John Laird, Fax: (916) 651-4017
Assembly Member Dawn Addis, Fax (916) 319-2135
Dave Mullinax, League of California Cities, dmullinax@cacities.org
League of California Cities (via email: cityletters@calcities.org)