May 29, 2026
The United to House LA coalition responded to the final recommendations issued by the Ad Hoc Committee on Measure United to House LA today. (Item 8 on the agenda, as amended during committee)
“Without weighing in on every single line of what the committee sent to council, we can say that this is how we optimize Measure ULA ,” said Joe Donlin, director of the United to House LA coalition. “The committee’s recommendations are in alignment with the measure that voters approved. The recommendation for tax credits and exemptions is narrowly tailored, based on economic impact research, and aligns to Measure ULA’s overall goals around creating affordable housing and good jobs. And none of it requires a wasteful ballot measure that diverts energy from fighting the Jarvis and MAGA-backed effort, coming to Californians’ ballots this fall, that will attempt to overturn ULA and dozens of other local revenue measures.”
“By not taking up the extreme calls for broad, 15-year waivers that could cost the program about a third of its revenue, the committee acknowledged that ULA is working, that the case for its negative effect on real estate development has proven overblown, and that the measure itself was built to be flexible, improvable, and responsive to sound proposals for change,” added Donlin.
These comments apply only to amended item 8 and not to other items from today’s agenda. The amended proposal will be viewable at the council file under the entry for 5/29.
Additional background
Measure ULA—which LA voters passed in November 2022 with 58% of the vote—has already raised over one billion dollars, making it the largest source of local funding for affordable housing in the United States. ULA is funding the construction of 1,900 new affordable homes, with hundreds open and many more under construction, and the preservation of thousands more.
Funds from Measure ULA have supported the employment of thousands of workers, provided funds to keep more than ten thousand people housed, and offered legal support to tens of thousands of people facing eviction. Since it has become law, street homelessness has fallen in LA by 17% and eviction filings have decreased by 16%.
A recent report from the Los Angeles Housing Department found that a previous motion advancing a 15-year exemption would result in a 29% loss in ULA revenues, up to 35% with additional proposals.
The impact of ULA on real estate development has been greatly exaggerated by critics. A recent analysis from Bonett and Wander shows that, contrary to the widely circulated Phillips-Ward paper that said it slowed multi-family construction, data in that paper showed no effect from ULA on multi-family housing. An economic impact report from BAE found that very few feasible projects become infeasible due to ULA, and that exemptions would mostly provide additional subsidy for projects that would advance regardless.
Economic data reflect this view. The Hilgard Economic Report found that LA real estate permitting activity is on the rebound, with 60% and 30% year-over-year increases in activity in the two most recent quarters. Commercial real estate company CoStar saw that new apartment construction surged in the first quarter of 2026 and is higher than 90% of the quarters prior to when ULA was introduced going back to 2016.