Housing discrimination: nonprofit home-sharing program: eligibility for public social services.

Assembly Member Ward frames a targeted policy that couples a narrow housing-discrimination carve-out with an income-exclusion strategy tied to nonprofit home-sharing, to address housing access for households in owner-occupied homes. The centerpiece is a narrowly scoped exception to prohibitions on discrimination in housing: refusals to rent a portion of an owner-occupied single-family house to a roomer, boarder, or tenant would not constitute discrimination if the owner participates in a nonprofit home-sharing program, rents to no more than two occupants, shares living areas, and complies with existing nondiscrimination notices and advertising requirements.

The bill expands programmatic and benefit rules through two main mechanisms. First, it adds a Welfare and Institutions Code provision establishing that income from renting bedrooms or units in a nonprofit home-sharing program shall not be counted as income or assets for determining eligibility or benefit amounts for public social services, to the extent allowed by federal law. The State Department of Social Services must pursue federal waivers or approvals necessary to apply these exclusions to CalFresh and SSI/SSP, while Medi-Cal eligibility would be exempt no earlier than January 1, 2027, contingent on federal law and funding, with implementation through non-regulatory guidance such as all-county letters. Second, the bill defines a nonprofit home-sharing program to require administration by a nonprofit or governmental entity, delivery of no-cost services (including intake, background checks, and third-party mediation), a lease term of at least 30 days, ongoing full-time case management, and the participation of up to two additional occupants in owner-occupied housing.

The measure also sets governance and fiscal expectations: it acknowledges that expanding eligibility and administering these changes would impose duties on counties, creating potential state-mandated local costs with reimbursement procedures if the Commission on State Mandates determines such costs exist. The Medi-Cal pathway relies on a non-traditional administrative mechanism, signaling a faster, guidance-driven rollout once federal alignment is achieved. The accompanying findings emphasize housing-cost burdens for older adults and people with disabilities, the broader housing shortage, and the potential role of nonprofit home-sharing in expanding options, while keeping enforcement of existing FEHA protections intact outside the carved-out scope. The overall framework is narrowly tailored, contingent on federal approvals, and designed to operate within specified program criteria and timelines.