Senator Portantino Secures $23 Million for Affordable Housing in Pasadena, Burbank and Glendale

State Sen. Anthony J. Portantino (D – Pasadena) announced today that his budget request to create and fund a regional affordable housing trust between the cities of Pasadena, Burbank, and Glendale was approved.  

The 2022-2023 State Budget will allocate $23 million to help finance affordable housing projects in the three cities through the joint powers authority (JPA) outlined in Senator Portantino’s SB 1177.

“Housing is a regional issue and cities working together in partnership, together with the state is the best strategy to constructing more affordable housing for our communities.  We are stronger when we work together.  Thank you to Senator Portantino for his leadership and support in making this strategy a reality for this Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena Joint Partnership on affordable housing,” said Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo. 

Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena have nearly 3,000 affordable housing units in the combined development pipeline, including permanent supportive housing, senior housing, workforce housing, and affordable home ownership units.  Due to insufficient local funding, they have been unable to bring their backlog of affordable housing projects to completion.

“As we continue to face a historic housing crisis, Glendale and our neighboring cities need all the help we can get in order to find creative ways to build more affordable housing for our residents,” said Glendale Mayor “Ardy” Kassakhian.  “That’s why these funds that Senator Portantino has secured through his innovative approach to solving this crisis will be a great help in addressing housing affordability needs.”

“We are so excited and thankful that Sen. Portantino was able to include the $23M in the State Budget for the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Regional Housing Trust.  This money will mean a lot for our region as we continue to approve and build affordable housing,” stated Burbank Mayor Jess Talamantes.

The cities of Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena are members of the Arroyo Verdugo Sub-Region and have worked collaboratively in the past, sharing the goal of cooperatively addressing regional priorities and matters of mutual interest.  They each operate their own housing authority, and both Glendale and Pasadena are two of the three cities in the state that have their own homeless continuum of care.

SB 1177, authored by Senator Portantino would create the regional housing trust fund that would be administered by a joint powers authority (JPA) comprised 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. SB 1177 is currently in Assembly and is eligible for a floor vote when the Legislature reconvenes in August.

“Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena have been at the forefront of meeting California’s housing needs.  I’m happy to help them create and fund this effort to build critical affordable housing,” said Senator Portantino.  “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.  I’m proud to represent these three great cities that initiated this creative solution and I look forward to working closely with them to continue to address our regional housing needs.”