California Legislature Releases Sweeping Bill Package to Fast Track Housing Production

Mar 27, 2025 | Legislation, Bills, Housing

In a unified effort to tackle California’s housing crisis, a bipartisan and bicameral group of legislators today unveiled the Fast Track Housing package — a suite of more than 20 bills aimed at making housing more affordable by slashing red tape, removing uncertainty, and drastically diminishing the time it takes to get new housing approved and built. This package builds off the recommendations in the Final Report of the Select Committee on Permitting Reform, chaired by Asm. Wicks.

Will this bill be the end of California’s housing vs environment wars?

Mar 26, 2025 | Bills, Housing, Legislation

BY BEN CHRISTOPHER
MARCH 26, 2025

In the recurring legislative fight between YIMBY legislators and defenders of California’s signature environmental law, one bill could be a final legislative showdown.
For years California has been stuck in a recurring fight between legislators who want the state to turbocharge new home construction and legislators determined to defend a landmark environmental protection law.
The final showdown in that long-standing battle may have just arrived.

Wiener’s Controversial Bill to Allow Housing Near Transit Is Back

Mar 14, 2025 | Bills, Housing, Legislation

Erin Baldassari
Mar 14

State Sen. Scott Wiener is back with another bill to allow medium-rise apartment buildings near transit across California — his fourth attempt in seven years.
SB 79 by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) would allow apartments up to seven stories tall within a quarter-mile of certain train stations. Allowable building heights would decrease farther from the train station or bus rapid transit stop, dropping to as low as four stories within a half-mile.