First published in the Dec. 10 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
State Sen. Anthony Portantino received the 2022 Housing Champion Award from the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments and National CORE.
Portantino was honored for championing policies that promote affordable housing, specifically Senate Bill 1177, which established the Regional Housing Trust between the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, and for garnering $23 million from the 2021-2022 State Budget to fund the housing trust projects.
“I am humbled to receive this honor,” Portantino said in a statement. “Affordable housing is a critical issue in California and in my district. The high cost of housing has had a devastating effect on Californians, especially on lower income and workforce households in the Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena area. These three great cities initiated a creative solution and I look forward to its success and the expansion of affordable housing projects throughout the 25th Senate District.”
The bill, SB 1177, creates a regional affordable housing trust, which would be administered by a joint powers authority composed of the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena. Under the bill, the JPA would be allowed to request and receive private and state funding allocations, as well as authorize and issue bonds, to help finance affordable housing projects for persons and families of extremely low-, very low-, low- and moderate-income households.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1177 earlier this year. In June, the senator’s budget request to create and fund the regional affordable housing trust was approved in the 2022-2023 state budget, allocating $23 million to help finance affordable housing projects created by SB 1177.
“The San Gabriel Valley is grateful to have an advocate like Sen. Anthony Portantino in Sacramento,” said Nayiri Baghdassarian, director of public policy for San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, in a statement. “The establishment of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Regional Housing Trust by SB 1177 and the $23 million in funding for it will allow for affordable housing projects to begin right away. It is pivotal for the expansion and growth of affordable housing in our region.
“Sen. Portantino’s record of bringing back resources to help our cities address critical issues left no question that the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, along with the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments and National CORE, would recognize Sen. Portantino with our 2022 Housing Champion award.”
