Why Passing California’s Proposition 1 is Critical for People with Disabilities
This November, California voters will consider Proposition 1, the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026. The Kelsey is proud to support this major investment in affordable housing across California.
What Proposition 1 would do
Proposition 1 would authorize $11.25 billion for housing, including $10 billion for affordable housing and homeownership programs and $1.25 billion for the CalVet Home Loan Program.
The largest investment—$7.2 billion—would support the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable multifamily rental housing. The measure would also invest in homeownership, infrastructure, farmworker housing, tribal housing, and affordable student housing.
At a time when communities across California face a severe shortage of affordable homes, we believe this scale of public investment is an important step toward expanding housing options for people who are too often priced out of the market, including people with disabilities.
Housing affordability is a disability issue
People with disabilities face both an affordability crisis and an accessibility crisis. Finding an affordable home can already be difficult; finding one that is both affordable and meets a person’s access needs is even harder.
That is why we see increasing the supply of affordable housing as a core disability inclusion strategy. More affordable homes mean more opportunities for disabled people to live independently, remain connected to their communities and supports, and avoid institutionalization and/or homelessness.
New housing construction also creates an important opportunity to expand accessibility. Much of California’s existing housing stock was built before today’s accessibility requirements were in place. New covered multifamily housing must meet higher accessibility requirements, meaning investments in new construction can expand not only the overall housing supply, but also the supply of homes that are more accessible and adaptable for people with disabilities.
Proposition 1 creates an opportunity to grow the supply of housing that is both affordable and better able to meet the needs of disabled Californians.
Affordable housing needs public investment
Another important reason we support Proposition 1 is simple: affordable housing does not get built at the scale we need without significant public investment.
Even strong projects with committed developers, local support, and identified sites can struggle to move forward when there is insufficient public funding to close financing gaps. Without enough state resources, projects will continue to stall, shrink, or never get built at all.
For disability-forward housing, this matters enormously. We cannot meaningfully expand the supply of affordable, accessible, inclusive homes if projects cannot get financed in the first place. Passing Proposition 1 would create more opportunities to build more housing and provide a stronger foundation for continued advocacy around housing accessibility, affordability, and inclusion.
Passing the bond is only the beginning
Proposition 1 would create an enormous opportunity, but passing the bond alone will not solve California’s shortage of affordable, accessible, and inclusive housing.
Baseline accessibility requirements are important, but they do not guarantee that housing will meet the full range of accessibility needs for disabled people. Funding affordable housing also does not guarantee that the homes built will be affordable to people with extremely low incomes, such as people living on Supplemental Security Income (SSI). More affordable housing doesn’t guarantee that the housing will be built and operated to support people with disabilities who need supports to live in their own homes.
As Proposition 1 is implemented, The Kelsey will advocate that the investments prioritize:
- Deep affordability, including homes affordable to people with extremely low incomes.
- Accessible and inclusive design that goes beyond minimum requirements and responds to a wide range of mobility, sensory, cognitive, and other access needs.
- Integrated, community-based housing that ensures people with and without disabilities are living alongside one another as neighbors.
- Supportive, inclusive housing where housing operations, resident services, and amenities support people with disabilities who need a wide range of community-based and in-home supports, from 4 hours per week to 24 hours per day.
- Effective matching of accessible homes to people who need them, so accessible units actually reach disabled residents.
- Meaningful disability participation in decisions about how housing programs and funding are designed and implemented.
California has an opportunity to make a historic investment in affordable housing. The Kelsey supports Proposition 1 because we believe that this investment will be critical to increasing housing opportunities for people with disabilities and their families. If the proposition passes, California takes a big step forward in creating a disability-forward housing future.