Congresswoman Maxine Waters Calls for Bold Housing Action, Highlights Impact on California Communities
Washington, D.C. — California’s housing crisis took center stage this week as Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, addressed members of the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association (PHADA) during their Annual Legislative Forum. PHADA represents 1,900 housing agencies nationwide, including dozens across California that provide lifelines to families struggling with rising rents, homelessness, and limited affordable housing options.
For Waters, who represents South Los Angeles and Inglewood, the connection between national housing policy and local realities is deeply personal. California is home to the nation’s largest homeless population and some of the steepest housing costs, making the state a key focal point in the national debate.
In her remarks, Waters pointed to staggering national statistics: rents up nearly 47 percent since 2019, home prices surging by 57 percent, and more than 770,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night. In California, those numbers are even more dire. More than 180,000 people are unhoused statewide—about a quarter of the national total—with Los Angeles County alone accounting for over 75,000.
“These numbers aren’t abstract,” Waters told the forum. “In California, our housing authorities are grappling with record homelessness, overcrowded shelters, and families waiting years for housing vouchers that simply aren’t available.”
California’s public housing authorities play a central role in addressing these challenges. Agencies in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, and smaller cities across the state manage over 300,000 affordable housing units and administer tens of thousands of housing choice vouchers. Yet even as demand grows, resources remain limited. Waitlists for housing assistance in many California cities have been closed for years, with tens of thousands of families still waiting.
Waters sharply criticized the Trump administration’s housing rollbacks, saying cuts to fair housing enforcement and HUD staff made the job of California housing authorities harder. For agencies already overwhelmed by rising housing costs, those cuts translated into fewer resources to combat discrimination, slower response times for maintenance, and greater challenges in expanding affordable housing stock.
She then highlighted her legislative priorities and underscored their significance for California communities:
Housing Crisis Response Act: By funding construction and preservation of deeply affordable housing, the act could provide a direct boost to California, where shortages are most severe. In Los Angeles alone, more than 500,000 additional affordable units are needed to meet demand.
Ending Homelessness Act: Waters emphasized how the measure could support California’s growing network of housing authorities and nonprofits that provide wraparound services to people living on the streets.
Downpayment Toward Equity Act: With California’s homeownership rate lagging behind the national average—particularly for Black and Latino families—Waters said the act could help first-generation buyers access homeownership in one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets.
Strengthening Housing Supply Act: Waters noted this would allow California communities to use Community Development Block Grants to expand housing options and keep rents affordable, particularly in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods.
California housing leaders in attendance and online echoed Waters’ points. Representatives from Los Angeles and San Diego shared that rising construction costs, stagnant federal support, and surging demand have left agencies scrambling to keep up. On social media, advocates praised Waters for centering California in her remarks, noting that state-level solutions depend heavily on sustained federal investment.
“Congresswoman Waters has always been a champion for communities like ours,” one California housing authority official wrote. “Her push for federal action is exactly what we need to address the scale of the crisis we see every day.”
Waters closed her speech by reaffirming her commitment to ensuring that California’s public housing authorities—and the families they serve—remain at the heart of national housing solutions. “California’s challenges are America’s challenges,” she said. “When we make progress in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento, we show the nation what’s possible.”
For PHADA’s California members, Waters’ message was both a recognition of the outsized challenges they face and a call to action for federal policymakers to match the urgency felt in communities across the state.
STORY: Charles Jackson