California Apartment Association

California Assemblyman Tony Thurmond is putting together legislation that would leverage tax credits to address the Bay Area’s shortage of affordable housing, the San Francisco Business Times reported Tuesday.

The Richmond Democrat, who held a town hall meeting on housing this month in Oakland, said he’s prepared to pitch the idea to Gov. Jerry Brown, the article says. Thurmond may have his work cut out for him, considering that the governor has rejected several tax-credit based proposals as of late, including Assembly Bill 35, which would have increased California’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit by $300 million for the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing units across the state.

During Thurmond’s town hall meeting, several ideas for increasing the Bay Area’s housing stock emerged, including using school surplus property for workforce housing and a new statewide housing bond.

“Many participants and panelists talked about the ultimate need to increase housing stock as a means to reduce housing costs as well as building on vacant and under-utilized public properties,” says this news release from Thurmond’s office about the town hall.