Glendale News Press: State bill that would free up $27M for affordable housing in Glendale clears committee

A bill that would allow Glendale officials to repurpose $27 million in bonds originally intended for redevelopment projects to build affordable housing cleared its first state Senate committee this week.

On Wednesday, the Government and Finance Committee voted 5-2 to advance Senate Bill 532, sponsored by the city of Glendale and authored by state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge). It will now head to the Housing Committee for a hearing on April 22.

In February 2012, when the state was financially troubled, former Gov. Jerry Brown closed more than 100 redevelopment agencies in cities across California. The agencies were supposed to use a portion of their property tax funds to partner with developers to revamp blighted areas, but critics questioned the public benefit of some of the resulting projects.

Read Full Article Here