Opinion: Prop. 1 an investment our state’s families and veterans deserve – San Diego Union-Tribune

Opinion: Prop. 1 an investment our state’s families and veterans deserve  San Diego Union-Tribune

Let’s bring funds San Diegans paid back to San Diego. Thousands of San Diego veterans come home from serving this country only to face a new battle: the region’s housing crisis. Nearly two in three veterans experiencing homelessness in San Diego County were unsheltered in 2025, according to the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency. The projects are ready throughout the county. San Diegans just have to vote yes on Proposition 1 to make them happen. Nearly 40,000 affordable homes across California, including projects in San Diego, are fully permitted and shovel-ready, but stalled because the funding to build them does not exist.

That gap is personal for San Diegans. San Diego County is roughly 130,000 affordable homes short of what it needs, according to the 2026 San Diego County Affordable Housing Needs Report. Rent here has climbed 22% over the past five years, outpacing basically all paycheck raises. A single person now needs to earn about $50 an hour — nearly three times minimum wage — just to afford the average two-bedroom apartment. Buying is worse: The county’s median-priced home sells for $1.075 million, according to the California Association of Realtors. Only 17% of county households can afford that. Proposition 1, the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026, would authorize $11.25 billion in state