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# New law expands South Bay housing trust’s power to finance workforce housing
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/new-law-expands-south-bay-housing-trusts-power-to-finance-workforce-housing/
- Published: 2026-10-21T18:59:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T18:58:59.000Z
- Author: Maaz Alin
- Tags: Government & Politics, California

South Bay cities will have expanded tools to finance workforce housing through their regional housing trust beginning Jan. 1 under a new state law.

[SB 799](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=202520260SB799&ref=smdp.com), authored by state Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, expands the South Bay Regional Housing Trust’s authority to finance housing for moderate-income households. The change gives participating cities a new way to support housing for teachers, health care professionals, first responders, service members and other workers. These workers may earn too much to qualify for traditional affordable housing programs but are increasingly priced out of the communities where they work.

“Too many working families can no longer afford to live in the communities they serve,” Allen said. “This increased flexibility will go a long way in helping us meet the needs of our local workforce, and I’m grateful to have been able to work with the South Bay cities and local leadership to finalize this meaningful solution.”

Allen first authored[ ](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=202120220SB1444&ref=smdp.com)[legislation](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=202120220SB1444&ref=smdp.com) establishing the trust in 2022\. That law allowed Los Angeles County and cities within the South Bay Cities Council of Governments to create a joint powers authority to pool resources and support affordable housing. Eleven South Bay cities formally launched the trust earlier this year.

The trust has already begun putting those resources to work. In May, its board approved a $6 million loan for the Cordary Avenue Apartments, a new 100% affordable housing development in Hawthorne. The investment was the first allocation from $7.9 million in Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency funding earmarked annually for the South Bay through Measure A.

“We’re extremely grateful to Senator Ben Allen for understanding and addressing our needs in the South Bay with SB 799 to help us protect the housing future of the ‘missing middle,’ who are being priced out of the communities they serve,” said Debby Stegura, chair of the South Bay Regional Housing Trust and a Rolling Hills Estates councilmember. “The price of displacement of these essential workers is one our communities cannot afford to pay, when it comes to preserving the safety, education, and quality of life of our subregion now and in the future.”

The trust currently includes El Segundo, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills Estates, Redondo Beach and Torrance.

Edited by SMDP Staff