Voting on affordable housing postponed

SACRAMENTO — Legislative leaders backing a package of bills to raise revenue for affordable housing pushed the vote into next week after it became clear Friday that they did not have the support needed for passage.

Lawmakers involved in the deal said the package of housing legislation is coming together and remains a priority for Democratic leaders. It’s just taking more time than expected to craft the deal and ensure they have enough lawmaker support to pass it, they said.

“Everyone in the Legislature understands the severity of the housing crisis and wants to move forward with significant actions and hopefully that will happen next week,” said Assemblyman David Chiu, chair of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.

While as many as a dozen bills are being considered as part of the housing package, three of those appeared ready for a vote on Friday before being pushed off to next week. Those bills are a $4 billion bond that will be put before voters next year under SB3, a new real estate fee under SB2 and changes to state law that will force reluctant cities to build more lowto-middle income housing under SB35.

“This package will not solve the housing crisis overnight,” Chiu said Friday. “That being said, it’s a significant step in addressing the worst housing crisis our state has ever faced.”

SB2 and SB3 both would require every Democrat in the Senate and Assembly to vote in favor to reach the twothirds approval needed to pass both houses. On Friday, Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton, was absent from session for legislative business, leaving Democrats shy a lawmaker.

However, Quirk-Silva is among several Democrats in swing districts who have expressed concerns about the new real estate fee in SB2 or declined to state a position on the bill. SB2 by Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, would create a new $75 to $225 recording fee on real estate documents and property transactions, such as deeds and notices of default. The fee would not include home sales.

Republicans have widely panned SB2. The chances of peeling off a GOP lawmaker or two to vote for SB2 became much more difficult last week when Assembly Republicans replaced their leader over his support for cap-and-trade legislation.

Still, Democrats said they believe they will garner the support needed to pass housing legislation.

“These are big bills so it’s not surprising that it’s not moving at lighting speed, but we will get it done,” said Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, who is the author of SB35 to streamline building. Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez