California Remove Voter Approval Requirement for Public Low-Rent Housing Projects Amendment (2024)

California Remove Voter Approval Requirement for Public Low-Rent Housing Projects Amendment
Election date November 5, 2024
Topic Housing
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

The California Remove Voter Approval Requirement for Public Low-Rent Housing Projects Amendment was not on the ballot in California as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024.

A "yes" vote would have supported amending the California Constitution to repeal Article 34, which required local voter approval via a ballot measure for federal and/or state government-funded housing projects classified as low rent.

A "no" vote would have opposes this constitutional amendment, thereby maintaining the local voter approval requirement for publicly-funded housing projects classified as low rent.

The measure was removed from the ballot by the state legislature with the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 157.

Overview

How would the amendment have affected public low-rent housing projects in California?

See also: Text of measure

The ballot measure would have repealed Article 34 of the California Constitution, which was enacted in 1950 via Proposition 10. Article 34 requires local voter approval by a simple majority for rental housing projects that receive funding or assistance from the federal and/or state government and are intended for persons of low income. Therefore, the ballot measure would have allowed rental housing projects intended for persons of low income and receiving government funding or assistance to be developed, constructed, or acquired without a local referendum. The constitution defines a person of low income as "persons or families who lack the amount of income which is necessary (as determined by the state public body developing, constructing, or acquiring the housing project) to enable them, without financial assistance, to live in decent, safe and sanitary dwellings, without overcrowding." As of 2024, California is the only state with such a constitutional requirement.

How does the state define low-rent housing projects?

As of 2024, the constitution defined low-rent housing project to mean "any development composed of urban or rural dwellings, apartments or other living accommodations for persons of low income, financed in whole or in part by the Federal Government or a state public body or to which the Federal Government or a state public body extends assistance by supplying all or part of the labor, by guaranteeing the payment of liens, or otherwise." Publicly funded projects where less than 50% of the units are for low-income households are exempt from Article 34's voter approval requirement.

Have there been other ballot measures to repeal Article 34?

See also: Efforts to repeal

Since its adoption, the state legislature has placed three constitutional amendments on the ballot to repeal it in 1974, 1980, and 1993. All three measures were defeated by voters with at least 58.93% or more of the vote.

Text of measure

Constitutional changes

See also: Article 34, California Constitution

The measure would have repealed Article 34 of the California Constitution. The following text would have been deleted:

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

Section 1

No low rent housing project shall hereafter be developed, constructed, or acquired in any manner by any state public body until, a majority of the qualified electors of the city, town or county, as the case may be, in which it is proposed to develop, construct, or acquire the same, voting upon such issue, approve such project by voting in favor thereof at an election to be held for that purpose, or at any general or special election.

For the purposes of this Article the term "low rent housing project" shall mean any development composed of urban or rural dwellings, apartments or other living accommodations for persons of low income, financed in whole or in part by the Federal Government or a state public body or to which the Federal Government or a state public body extends assistance by supplying all or part of the labor, by guaranteeing the payment of liens, or otherwise. For the purposes of this Article only there shall be excluded from the term "low rent housing project" any such project where there shall be in existence on the effective date hereof, a contract for financial assistance between any state public body and the Federal Government in respect to such project.

For the purposes of this Article only "persons of low income" shall mean persons or families who lack the amount of income which is necessary (as determined by the state public body developing, constructing, or acquiring the housing project) to enable them, without financial assistance, to live in decent, safe and sanitary dwellings, without overcrowding.

For the purposes of this Article the term "state public body" shall mean this State, or any city, city and county, county, district, authority, agency, or any other subdivision or public body of this State.

For the purposes of this Article the term "Federal Government" shall mean the United States of America, or any agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America.

Section 2

The provisions of this Article shall be self-executing but legislation not in conflict herewith may be enacted to facilitate its operation.

Section 3

If any portion, section or clause of this article, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, shall for any reason be declared unconstitutional or held invalid, the remainder of this Article, or the application of such portion, section or clause to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

Section 4

The provisions of this Article shall supersede all provisions of this Constitution and laws enacted thereunder in conflict therewith.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• State Sen. Ben Allen (D)
• State Sen. Scott Wiener (D)

Political Parties

• Republican Party of California

Organizations

• California Association of Realtors

Arguments

• State Sen. Ben Allen (D-26): "It’s a stain on the constitution. It was put in place at a very different time where there were very different attitudes. It’s become a barrier."
• California YIMBY (Yes in My Back Yard): "To increase the rate of home construction and make it cheaper to build affordable housing, the state should repeal Article 34. It is an unnecessary requirement upon affordable housing developers to require an election to allow low income housing to be built in a community. As affordable housing developers will testify, this requirement is a significant deterrent to constructing needed housing in high opportunity areas of the state."
• State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-11): "It creates significant barriers to our ability to solve our housing crisis, because it makes it a lot harder to build publicly funded housing for low-income people."

Opposition

Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for California ballot measures

If you are aware of a committee registered to support or oppose this amendment, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Background

California Proposition 10 (1950)

See also: California Proposition 10, Ballot Measures Required for Publicly Funded Low-Rent Housing Projects Initiative (1950)

In 1950, voters approved Proposition 10, an initiated constitutional amendment that enacted Article 34 of the California Constitution requiring voter approval of a ballot measure to authorize publicly funded low-rent housing projects. It was sponsored by the California Real Estate Association. It was approved by a margin of 50.78% to 49.22%.

Efforts to repeal

Since its adoption, the state legislature has placed three constitutional amendments on the ballot to repeal it.

In November 1974, California voters defeated Proposition 15, which would have repealed the constitutional voter requirement. It was defeated by a vote of 61.28% to 38.72%.

In June 1980, California voters defeated Proposition 4, which would have repealed the local voter referendum requirement and replaced it with a referendum option on the project if 10% of voters signed a petition. It was defeated by a margin of 58.93% to 41.07%.

In November 1993, California voters defeated another attempt to repeal the requirement with the defeat of Proposition 168, which like the 1980 measure would have added a citizen-initiated referendum option on housing projects. It was defeated by a margin of 59.82% to 40.18%.

James v. Valtierra (1971)

In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 5-3 ruling that Article 34 was constitutional after a legal challenge was filed arguing that it violated the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The lawsuit was filed by citizens of San Jose and San Mateo County, California, where local referendums were defeated keeping local housing authorities from applying for federal funds for low-rent housing.

The majority opinion of the court written by Justice Hugo L. Black said, "This procedure ensures that all the people of a community will have a voice in a decision which may lead to large expenditures of local governmental funds for increased public services and to lower tax revenues. It gives them a voice in decisions that will affect the future development of their own community. This procedure for democratic decisionmaking does not violate the constitutional command that no State shall deny to any person 'the equal protection of the laws.'"

The dissent argued it did violate the Equal Protection Clause writing, "It is far too late in the day to contend that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits only racial discrimination; and to me, singling out the poor to bear a burden not placed on any other class of citizens tramples the values that the Fourteenth Amendment was designed to protect."

Local ballot measures for low-rent housing authorization, 2016-2022

Ballotpedia tracked 15 local ballot measures in 14 jurisdictions between 2016 and 2022 that authorized additional units for public low-rent housing projects. All 15 measures were approved. The average "yes" vote percentage for the measures was 68.17%.

Year	Jurisdiction	Title	Yes vote	No vote	Outcome
2022	Los Angeles	Proposition LH	70.45%	29.55%	a
2022	Berkeley	Measure N	76.13%	23.87%	a
2022	Oakland	Measure Q	80.07%	19.93%	a
2022	South San Francisco	Measure AA	58.85%	41.15%	a
2022	Sacramento	Measure D	60.90%	39.10%	a
2020	Arcata	Measure B	74.19%	25.81%	a
2020	El Monte	Measure HN	69.28%	30.72%	a
2020	Humboldt County	Measure I	67.40%	32.60%	a
2020	San Francisco	Proposition K	73.52%	26.48%	a
2018	Healdsburg	Measure P	55.76%	44.24%	a
2018	Stockton	Measure K	75.86%	24.14%	a
2016	Berkeley	Measure Z1	83.34%	16.66%	a
2016	Eureka	Measure O	57.85%	42.15%	a
2016	San Diego	Measure M	66.41%	33.59%	a
2016	Tuolumne County	Measure K	52.56%	47.44%	a

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the California Constitution

In California, a two-thirds vote is needed in each chamber of the California State Legislature to refer a constitutional amendment to the ballot for voter consideration.

Senators Ben Allen (D) and Scott Wiener (D) introduced the constitutional amendment as Senate Constitutional Amendment 2 (SCA 2) on December 7, 2020. On January 26, 2022, the California State Senate passed SCA 2 in a unanimous vote of 37-0 with three senators absent. On August 31, 2022, the California State Assembly passed SCA 2 in a unanimous vote of 73-0 with seven assembly members absent. On September 6, 2023, the state legislature passed Senate Bill 789 (SB 789) to move the amendment from the March 5 primary ballot to the November general election ballot.

The amendment was removed from the ballot with the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 157. Sen. Ben Allen (D) explained the removal saying, "While (the repeal) was one of many efforts to help address the housing crisis, the November ballot will be very crowded and reaching voters will be difficult and expensive."

Vote in the California State Senate January 26, 2022
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 27  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	37	0	3
Total percent	92.5%	0.00%	7.5%
Democrat	30	0	1
Republican	7	0	2

Vote in the California State Assembly August 31, 2022
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 54  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	73	0	7
Total percent	91.3%	0.0%	8.7%
Democrat	58	0	2
Republican	14	0	5
Independent	1	0	0

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in California

See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in California.

How to vote in California

Poll times

All polls in California are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.

Registration

Check your voter registration status here.

To vote in California, an individual must be a U.S. citizen and California resident. A voter must be at least 18 years of age on Election Day. Pre-registration is available at 16 years of age. Pre-registered voters are automatically registered to vote when they turn 18.

Automatic registration

California automatically registers eligible individuals to vote when they complete a driver's license, identification (ID) card, or change of address transaction through the Department of Motor Vehicles. Learn more by visiting this website.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

California has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Same-day registration

California allows same-day voter registration.

Californians must be registered to vote at least 15 days before Election Day. If the registration deadline has passed for an upcoming election, voters may visit a location designated by their county elections official during the 14 days prior to, and including Election Day to conditionally register to vote and vote a provisional ballot, which are counted once county election officials have completed the voter registration verification process. The state refers to this process as Same Day Voter Registration.

Residency requirements

To register to vote in California, you must be a resident of the state. State law does not specify a length of time for which you must have been a resident to be eligible.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

California's constitution requires that voters be U.S. citizens. When registering to vote, proof of citizenship is not required. Individuals who become U.S. citizens less than 15 days before an election must bring proof of citizenship to their county elections office to register to vote in that election. An individual applying to register to vote must attest that they are a U.S. citizen under penalty of perjury.

As of November 2024, two jurisdictions in California had authorized noncitizen residents to vote for local board of education positions through local ballot measures. Only one of those jurisdictions, San Francisco, had implemented that law. Noncitizens voting for board of education positions must register to vote using a separate application from the state voter registration application.

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The secretary of state's My Voter Status website allows residents to check their voter registration status online.

Voter ID requirements

California does not require voters to present identification before casting a ballot in most cases. However, some voters may be asked to show a form of identification when voting if they are voting for the first time after registering to vote by mail and did not provide a driver license number, California identification number, or the last four digits of their social security number. On September 29, 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed SB 1174 into law prohibiting any jurisdiction in the state from adopting a local law that requires voters to present ID before voting.

The following list of accepted ID was current as of October 2024. Click here for the California Secretary of State page to ensure you have the most current information.

“

Current and valid photo identification provided by a third party in the ordinary course of business that includes the name and photograph of the individual presenting it. Examples of photo identification include, but are not limited to, the following documents: driver's license or identification card of any state; passport; employee identification card; identification card provided by a commercial establishment; credit or debit card; military identification card; student identification card; health club identification card; insurance plan identification card; or public housing identification card. Any of the following documents, provided that the document includes the name and address of the individual presenting it, and is dated since the date of the last general election…: utility bill; bank statement; government check; government paycheck; document issued by a governmental agency; sample ballot or other official elections document issued by a governmental, agency dated for the election in which the individual is providing it as proof, of residency or identity; voter notification card issued by a governmental agency; public housing identification card issued by a governmental agency; lease or rental statement or agreement issued by a governmental agency; student identification card issued by a governmental agency; tuition statement or bill issued by a governmental agency; insurance plan card or drug discount card issued by a governmental agency; discharge certificates, pardons, or other official documents issued to the individual by a governmental agency in connection with the resolution of a criminal case, indictment, sentence, or other matter; public transportation authority senior citizen and disabled discount cards issued by a governmental agency; identification documents issued by governmental disability agencies; identification documents issued by government homeless shelters and other government temporary or transitional facilities; drug prescription issued by a government doctor or other governmental health care provider; (R) property tax statement issued by a governmental agency; vehicle registration issued by a governmental agency; or vehicle certificate of ownership issued by a governmental agency.

”

See also

2024 measures

• 2024 ballot measures
• Housing on the ballot
• Direct democracy measures on the ballot

California

• California ballot measures
• California ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• California Senate Constitutional Amendment 2 (2021-2022)