State sens. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) and Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) authored legislation to repeal article 34 of the California Constitution, and it unanimously passed the California Senate.

Added by the voters in 1950, Article 34 of the California Constitution requires cities to submit projects to a voter referendum when public funds are allocated to developing low-income rental housing. No other type of housing is subjected to the requirement.

The constitutional amendment was enacted decades ago to keep people of color and poor people out of certain neighborhoods, Allen and Wiener said. It resulted in cities being forced to comply with numerous regulatory requirements and costly elections to build affordable housing.

“Article 34 is an anachronistic constitutional barrier that subjects government to a costly web of regulations and elections that drive up the price of affordable housing,” Allen said. “The passage of SCA 1 by the Senate helps give voters the chance to eliminate an obstacle undermining California’s efforts to address housing shortages and the challenge of homelessness.”

SCA 1 is sponsored by Mayor Eric Garcetti.

“Los Angeles and our entire state face a massive housing crisis, and Article 34 is an unnecessary roadblock to solving it,” Garcetti added. “[The] Senate vote is a key step toward removing costly barriers to building affordable and supporting housing across our city and moves us closer to finally putting this discriminatory chapter of California’s history behind us.”

Basic compliance with Article 34 can cost affordable housing developers between $10,000 and $80,000 with overall compliance comprising 1% to 15% of the cost of building each unit. California housing agencies report that their attorneys spent a considerable amount of time assisting cities and developers with Article 34 compliance.

According to California Department of Housing statistics, a majority of California renters pay more than 30% of their income on rent, and nearly one-third pay more than 50% of their income on housing. Approximately one in five Californians live in poverty with another 20% living near the poverty line. These poverty rates are attributed to a shortage of affordable housing, disproportionately affecting the state’s lowest income residents, according to Allen and Weiner.

SCA-1 is also supported by the California Coalition for Rural Housing, California Housing Consortium, California Housing Partnership, California REALTORS, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing and the Western Center on Law and Poverty.