CA AB1878

Removes authority for the Department of Housing and Community Development to act on behalf of tribal housing authorities and instead requires the department to provide comprehensive technical assistance to tribes, tribal housing entities, and housing departments on reservations, rancherias, and fee simple land.

Expands the department's ability to waive or modify state financing requirements for tribal housing developments, including timeline requirements, service area requirements, fund matching requirements, income limits, and affordability levels (changing from a 5% limitation to one income category change for target population and affordability).

Creates the Tribal Housing Grant Program Trust Fund Advisory Committee composed of nine voting members (three each from central, northern, and southern California) representing federally recognized tribes with housing expertise, plus four nonvoting state agency representatives; committee members receive $100 per diem for official duties.

Requires the department to assign reference numbers to waiver requests, post them on its website, and incorporate waivers into department programs if the same issue affects more than two tribal applicants; directs the department to include its tribal liaison in discussions with tribes and defer loan repayment and forgive loans to tribal sponsors upon satisfying loan conditions.

Prohibits the department from requiring tribes to waive sovereign immunity to access state funding (with specified exceptions), and provides that per diem payments to committee members and technical assistance data are confidential and excluded from gross income for tax purposes.