CSAC Supports Proposed Reorg to Create State Agency Focused on Housing and Homelessness 

CSAC CEO Graham Knaus testified at the Little Hoover Commission during its second day of hearings Thursday on Governor Newsom’s 2025 Government Reorganization Plan. The plan proposes to divide the current California Business Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH) into two separate, new agencies – the California Housing and Homelessness Agency and the Business and Consumer Services Agency.  

California’s housing and homelessness crises affects nearly every corner of this state. Despite significant investments in recent years, California still lacks a comprehensive system with clear lines of responsibility, accountability and reliable funding to meet the diverse and complex needs of California’s unhoused population. While the creation of a new state agency will not solve our state’s homelessness crisis, a separate and dedicated agency focused solely on housing and homelessness programs will lead to better alignment and coordination among the various state agencies responsible for administering and overseeing these programs.  

As outlined in the CSAC AT HOME framework, counties strongly support efforts to reduce administrative barriers that block or delay much needed affordable housing, shelter, and other projects intended to help people move residents off our streets and into safe and stable housing. Although recent progress has been made to increase regional collaboration and strengthen local coordination, navigating the complex web of various state funding sources for housing and homelessness programs results in delayed projects, lost funding, and erodes public trust.  

Counties support the Governor’s Reorganization Plan and look forward to further strengthening state and local efforts to address California’s homelessness crisis.  

Background:  

As currently structured, BCSH oversees a large number of state entities responsible for licensing and regulating businesses and professionals, enforcing civil rights laws, financing housing, and coordinating California’s homelessness efforts. Since the Agency’s creation in 2012, the total number of staff and departments under the Agency’s purview has grown by nearly 50 percent.  

Under the Governor’s proposal, the new California Housing and Homelessness Agency (CHHA) would include: the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH), the California Housing Finance Agency, the Civil Rights Department, and a newly proposed Housing Development and Finance Committee (HDFC). The new HDFC would be charged with overseeing the development of a single application and award process for affordable housing, as well as aligning program and funding opportunities to streamline the development of affordable housing.  

Next Steps: 

As required by statute related to the state’s governmental reorganization process, the Little Hoover Commission is required to review the Governor’s proposal and issue a report to the Governor and Legislature. The Commission’s hearings this week allow the Commission to hear from members of the public regarding the Reorganization Plan as they work to develop a report due to the Governor and Legislature this summer. To stay up to date on the Commission’s review process and watch recordings of the meetings (to be posted in the near future), visit the Little Hoover Commission’s Governor’s Reorganization Plan webpage.