Assembly bill addresses cost of UC housing

By Arj Arjunan
Daily Bruin Contributor

Members of the Undergraduate Students Association Council
discussed the progress of an assembly bill that addresses student
housing problems at its Tuesday meeting.

Gov. Gray Davis signed Assembly Bill 1611 earlier this month,
and it will go into effect Jan. 1.

The bill, authored by Assemblyman Fred Keeley, D-Monterey,
allows the state to provide loans to non-profit entities to develop
properties for students, faculty and staff housing.

“The intent of the bill is to equalize housing so
we’re not shutting out students from attending
schools,” said Amanda Canning, Keeley’s legislative
assistant.

University of California Student Association Chair Kenny Burch
said the bill limits prospective tenants to students, faculty and
staff. It also restricts the distance of housing developments from
campuses and caps the rent charged for individual units, he
added.

In recent years, housing costs in Westwood have risen sharply,
impacting the cost of attending UCLA for many students.

“It’s a problem in terms of access to
education,” said Evan Okamura, USAC external vice
president.

“Even if students find more affordable housing farther
away from campus, the distance they travel is detrimental,”
he continued.

USAC and other student governments conducted a system-wide
call-in that urged local government officials to support Assembly
Bill 1611, Okamura said.

As part of an ongoing assessment of housing conditions for
students at UCLA, USAC and the Graduate Students Association
produced a survey of 200-300 undergraduate and graduate
students.

The preliminary results show that 26 percent of those surveyed
pay more than $800 per month on one-bedroom apartments, Okamura
said. And 53 percent pay more than $650, which is the fair market
rent for a one-bedroom apartment in L.A. County, he added.

In the past, the legislature has resisted subsidizing student
housing costs ““ as it currently does for student educational
fees ““ because it did not consider the impact of housing
costs on student decisions to attend the UC, Burch said.

“Convincing the legislature that housing costs play a big
role was a problem,” he said.

As detailed in the bill, the state will finance the loans to
nonprofit developers by offering revenue bonds to investors. The
bill also gives responsibility for the housing development
operations to the nonprofit developers, but the universities will
monitor them, Burch said.

To keep costs down, the state will require nonprofit developers
to reinvest rental revenue into the properties, Canning said. Under
the bill, the state offers an incentive to developers by forgiving
a percentage of the loan if they demonstrate a continued commitment
to the bill’s guidelines, Burch said.

If developers fail to meet these requirements after they have
secured loans, they will incur the financial liability, he
added.