Rep. Jimmy Panetta introduces farmworker housing legislation

SALINAS – Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, has introduced legislation that would enhance affordable housing resources and promote program transparency for farmworker housing, the congressman's office announced Wednesday.

"On the Central Coast of California, there is an acute need for available and affordable farmworker housing," Panetta said in a press release. "My legislation will address such a shortage by strengthening the Farm Labor Housing Loan and Grant Program, improving access to information for local nonprofits, and increasing quality housing options for our farmworker community."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Housing and Community Facilities Program administers funding for farm labor housing and is the only federal program exclusively designed to increase access to affordable rental housing for America's farmworkers. The program's Section 514 loans and Section 516 grants may be used to buy, build, improve or repair housing for year-round and migrant or seasonal domestic farmworkers.

"Monterey County has an expanding agricultural economy that depends on a permanent year-round workforce. The 2018 Farmworker Housing Study & Action Plan for Salinas and Pajaro Valleys showed that farmworkers are living in severely overcrowded conditions," said Alfred Diaz-Infante, president and CEO of Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association Inc., in the press release. "(Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association Inc) supports Congress member Panetta's effort to improve and strengthen the (U.S. Department of Agriculture) Section 514/516 farmworker housing program."

The Farmworker Housing Improvement Act improves the application process, including by requiring the secretary of agriculture to establish an annual timetable for awarding program funds, requiring a notice of funding availability period for the Section 514/516 grant to last for 60 days, increasing the funding award caps and expanding eligibility for certain legal permanent residents.

"With the many challenges of building new, affordable housing, Monterey County Farm Bureau welcomes Congressman Panetta's efforts to improve the Section 514/516 farmworker housing program," said Norm Groot, Monterey County Farm Bureau's executive director, in the press release. "Local Ag employers are seeking out new ways to build housing, utilizing all pathways to provide a solution to our critical affordable housing shortage here. Passage of this bill will provide another opportunity for these Ag employers."