The Brief

California lawmakers are preparing for a historic surge in federal funding for affordable housing construction, a tsunami of subsidy that advocates say could as much as double the number of low-rent units produced by the state over the next decade.

It comes from an unlikely source.

Buried deep among the cuts to social services in President Donald Trump’s signature spending package, the One Big Beautiful Bill, is an increase in support for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit that affordable housing advocates have sought for years. Those tax credits are the most important federal funding available for affordable housing, and they’re used in low-income projects throughout California.

Exactly how much difference this boost will make in the Golden State depends on many factors, including tariffs, labor costs, state funding, and more. But experts agree the change could help California build thousands more affordable homes each year.

“It’s a very big deal,” said Matt Schwartz, president and CEO of the affordable housing nonprofit California Housing Partnership. “These provisions are a huge shot in the arm for an affordable housing field that has been suffering under exhausted state resources.”

It's no wonder those provisions haven’t gotten much public attention. The federal law, which Trump signed on July 4, extends and expands tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the richest and adds trillions to the federal debt while imposing historic spending cuts to Medicaid, other patches of the social safety net and clean energy programs over the next decade. For California’s Democratic leadership and its liberal-leaning electorate, there isn’t much to love and plenty to hate.

“From a California perspective, there have certainly been a lot of concerns with that bill,” said Ray Pearl, executive director of the California Housing Consortium, which advocates for affordable housing development.

But the spending package gives affordable housing boosters something to celebrate, even if many in blue California are reluctant to do so publicly.

Because the expansion to the tax credit program, part of a preexisting bill, was folded into the broader package, “the federal government has given us a green light to double production,” said Pearl.

Last week, the state committee that oversees these credits approved changes to its application process that incentivize developers to take advantage of the new federal policy.

What exactly do tax credits have to do with affordable housing?

Rather than fund public housing construction directly like it used to, the federal government rerouted most of its affordable housing funds through the tax code beginning in the 1980s. These tax credits are issued by states to affordable developers, who then sell them on to deep-pocketed banks, insurance companies and other financial behemoths, trading tax cuts for ownership shares in affordable housing projects.

It’s a financial Rube Goldberg machine, and it’s everywhere. If there’s an apartment project designated for unhoused people or low-income tenants in your neighborhood, chances are tax credits helped get it off the ground.

The credits come in two basic flavors. Both are getting a major boost under the new federal law.

One credit lets its owners write roughly 9% of the cost of construction on a project off their tax bill each year for 10 years. Those 9% credits are doled out by the federal government to the states, who then turn around and award them to developers. There are always more qualifying projects than there are credits to fund them, especially in California. The Trump-backed spending package boosts the total number of these credits by 12% each year indefinitely.

The other type of credit, the 4% credit, doesn’t come with a cap, which means it is technically available to any developer who qualifies. How a developer qualifies is the rub. Historically, an affordable project needs to cover half of its costs with particular tax-exempt bonds — which, like the 9% credits, are in short supply — to make full use of the 4% credits. The federal bill reduces that requirement, so that a project only needs to cover a quarter of its cost with the bonds.

“The bottom line is the federal government is making additional tax credits and bond capacity available,” Pearl said, “which is one of the biggest things you need to produce affordable housing nationwide, and especially in California.”

The state receives more requests for bond financing each year than it can grant, said Marina Wiant, executive director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. Her committee last week voted to change its application to line up with the new federal requirements — reducing the percentage of a new project that must be financed via bonds, and allowing projects already approved to reduce their bond financing. That lower threshold means there will be more bond money to go around, and more projects will get funded, she said.

“There are a lot of projects still in the queue that are waiting for bond financing,” Wiant said. “So this immediate change will have a pretty immediate impact this fall.”

How did this affordable housing boost get into Trump’s spending plan in the first place?

Schwartz’s group and others have been fighting for this tax credit increase for years, garnering bipartisan support along the way, he said. Republican lawmakers tend to view tax credits as a “good kind of subsidy,” he said. Because they are used by corporations, they are more palatable than food stamps and other direct assistance that are viewed as handouts.

Just how much could these new tax credits help? That depends on who you ask.

The changes in policy could fund the construction of an extra 1.22 million affordable rental units nationwide over the next 10 years, according to an estimate by the accounting firm Novogradac. That works out to roughly 20,000 extra units per year in California.

But many things could get in the way. If the cost of building goes up because of tariffs, increased labor costs or interest rate hikes, developers might decide not to use the tax credits. Trump’s spending package also keeps corporate tax rates low, which could reduce the value of the housing tax credits.

And, because housing is so expensive to build in California, most projects can’t rely solely on tax credits — they need other local and state funding, too. But that funding is in short supply. Extra money given out during the COVID-19 pandemic has dried up. A statewide $20 billion affordable housing bond was set to go before voters last year, but it was pulled off the ballot amid fears it would fail.

As a result, Schwartz estimates California will see closer to 10,000 new low-income homes built per year as a result of these extra tax credits, not 20,000.

“I think it’s going to take us a couple of years to ramp up,” he said.

Another potential obstacle: The cuts Trump’s spending package imposes on other areas — including the cuts to Medicaid that are expected to result in 3.4 million Californians losing coverage over the next 10 years — could exacerbate poverty for many people and undermine the benefits of the tax credits.

“It’s a tremendous irony,” Schwartz said, “that (the tax credit increase) was in this incredibly harmful ‘big ugly bill,’ as we call it.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

A warming trend kicks in for the region today that will raise temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above normal by next week.

Highs for L.A. and Orange County coasts will get up to around 70 degrees.

Valley communities will see highs mostly in the mid 60s to low 70s.

Inland Empire temperatures will range from 63 to 71 degrees. Coachella Valley temps will drop down to 61 degrees. In the Antelope Valley, we're looking at highs in the mid 50s.

Wind advisories

The San Gabriel, Santa Susana, Santa Monica mountains are under wind advisories until 3 p.m. Thursday.

We're looking at wind speeds from 35 to 45 mph, with some gusts up to 55 mph.

Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Santa Clarita Valley, Malibu and parts of Ventura County are also under a wind advisory until 3 p.m. Wind speeds there will range from 25 to 35 mph, with some gusts up to 45 mph.

Look out for fallen tree limbs. The recently rain-soaked ground could make it easier for entire trees to fall. Some power outages could also occur.

Beach hazards

You'll want to avoid swimming in the ocean because of strong rip currents and breaking waves from high surf. Minor flooding of beach parking lots is possible. These conditions will last until Friday morning for the Orange County coast, and until Saturday morning for L.A. County beaches.

Bryan Fuller probably is best known for creating television shows like Pushing Daisies and Hannibal — shows with devoted fans, many of whom still hope for series comebacks.

But when Fuller first came to Los Angeles to go to film school at USC in the 1990s, things didn’t go as planned.

After running out of financial aid, he had to drop out. But by staying in L.A. and taking odd jobs, like delivering head shots to casting directors at night, Fuller told LAist he still got an education in the industry.

Getting a foothold in L.A.

“There were a couple of times when I was delivering head shots that I would just see that they're in the middle of auditions, and I put my name down and I would go in and audition,” Fuller says. “Just because I was there and sort of fearless at that time and didn’t know what I should or should not do.”

That same fearlessness helped lead to his first writing job, for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. His unusual job-seeking tactic: “ I would pull up to the gate and say I was a delivery person and slide story ideas under the doors of Star Trek producers until they hired me.”

Fuller went on to work on Star Trek: Voyager, and in the early 2000s, he created his first original series, Dead Like Me, for Showtime.

As he got a foothold in the industry and went on to create other shows, as an openly gay writer and producer, Fuller took pride in infusing his stories with queer themes, something he would become known for (and touch on directly in an Achievement Award acceptance speech at Outfest in 2017).

Gateway horror, queer horror and the origins of ‘Dust Bunny’

In 2022, he executive produced a docuseries called Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror, and his latest project, the film Dust Bunny, which he wrote and marks his feature directorial debut, feels like a natural progression.

Part fairy tale, part thriller (or “gateway horror” as Fuller also describes it) the film is about a little girl who hires a hit man to kill the monster under her bed.

And while it might not seem like a queer story on its face, Fuller says it could be interpreted as one.

“Whenever I see a child championing themselves,” Fuller says, “that feels like a queer story. Because so many times, we as queer children have to become our own heroes and have to become our own champions.”

Sophie Sloane and Mads Mikkelsen in a scene from "Dust Bunny," written and directed by Bryan Fuller.

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Gabor Kotschy

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Courtesy Roadside Attractions

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But the story is also universal, which was by design.

Fuller explains: “There's a line in Dust Bunny where Aurora, played by Sophie Sloan [...] says, ‘My parents weren’t very nice to me,’ and that was designed to be a little unclear so the audience could see themselves in Aurora, whatever that means to them.”

Having a film or TV show that makes you feel seen, Fuller says, “I think is valuable not only for queer people, but for any child who feels that they may not belong or feels that they may not have a support system.”

The role of queer storytellers

Asked whether the Trump administration’s targeting of the LGBTQ community, particularly trans people, has changed his perspective on his role as a queer storyteller, Fuller was reflective.

“I think queer people have always encountered some kind of resistance that gives us friction," Fuller says. "And with that friction, there are sparks and growth, and that scar tissue is necessary to build an armor, particularly when we're looking at these stories through a fictional lens. They allow us to build upper resistance to real-life threats.”

Fuller says it also connects to his love of horror.

“It's one of the reasons I love horror movies and I love the thematic of 'the final girl,'" Fuller says. “Because I look at those movies as — if [Friday the 13th actresses] Amy Steele and Adrienne King can survive Crystal Lake, then I can survive my adversaries.”

To watch Bryan Fuller’s full interview with LAist host Julia Paskin, about "Dust Bunny," what he thinks it would take to keep more film and TV production here in Los Angeles and his ideas for a new ‘Star Trek’ movie, click here.

Today marks the final deadline for California counties to certify the results of the special election on Proposition 50, the ballot measure to redraw California’s congressional maps through 2030.

Statewide, turnout was 50%, with “yes” votes winning with 64.4%.

The Associated Press called the vote within minutes of polls closing Nov. 4, but the official vote count takes several weeks. The California Secretary of State now has until Dec. 12 to certify the full results.

Here’s what we know about turnout and the vote margin across Southern California.

Did the vote margin change?

Not really.

In many races, the vote margin narrows or widens as the count goes on, but Prop. 50 stayed remarkably consistent. The margin we saw on election night is pretty much what still stands. As of this morning, 64.4% of ballots counted voted “yes,” while 35.6% were “no.”

What was turnout like?

Voters notoriously do not show up for off-year elections in the same numbers as, say, a presidential election.

But given how consequential Prop. 50 was, there was a lot of curiosity about how many voters would actually participate. About 11.6 million people showed up for the special election — a turnout of 50% statewide.

It’s not as high as California’s last special election in 2021 on whether to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom — turnout then was 58.4%. But it’s a solid showing for California, especially for an off-year special election. In fact, it’s on par with California’s 2022 midterm elections, which saw 50.8% turnout.

Here’s the voter turnout breakdown among Southern California’s six counties — this is pending final certification from the state:

• Imperial County: 35.8%
• L.A. County: 44.9%
• Orange County: 52.3%
• Riverside County: 45.9%
• San Bernardino County: 44.2%
• Ventura County: 55.3%

Where did ‘yes’ and ‘no’ votes come from across SoCal?

“Yes” won the majority of the vote in all six Southern California counties — Imperial, L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura. The margin was the widest in L.A. County, where “yes” had 74.3% of the vote. The smallest was in Orange County, with “yes” votes at 55.5%.

If you’re curious to dig further into the details, here’s a breakdown of the vote by city in Orange County and a preliminary map of what the vote looked like across L.A. County neighborhoods.