Letters: Too Much Debt

Letters: Too Much Debt

by Susan Kirsch
September 22,2024

Too much debt

Proposition 5 will introduce a tsunami of long-termdebt.

Prop 5 will reduce the approval threshold for localaffordable housing and public infrastructure bonds from the current two-thirdsvoter requirement to 55%, making it easier for cities, counties and specialdistricts to pass these measures.

Letters: Too Much Debt

Gavin Newsom signs bills aimed at forcing California cities to approve new housing

By Annie Vainshtein, Sophia Bollag
Sep 19, 2024

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a package of bills intended to bolster California’s response to the dual homelessness and the housing crisis, he announced at a news conference in San Francisco’s Mission District on Thursday morning. Newsom also introduced guidance for up to $2.2 billion in funding through Proposition 1, passed by California voters in March, to construct permanent supportive housing for individuals at risk of — or currently — experiencing homelessness.

We’re Fighting Back Against a Power Grab

We’re Fighting Back Against a Power Grab

September 5, 2024

In a move that would curtail voter rights, Utah’s Republican-controlled Legislature plans to ask citizens in the November election to grant lawmakers the power to alter or repeal state ballot measures after they have been approved.
Spurred by a recent state Supreme Court ruling, both legislative chambers swiftly approved a constitutional amendment expanding the Legislature’s control over citizen initiatives.

California’s Legislature Has Turned on the People

California’s Legislature Has Turned on the People

By Katy Grimes,
September 3, 2024

Have you ever been stabbed in the back by a friend? You trusted them, supported them, and they turned on you. You never saw it coming. And you ask “what happened?”
California’s Supermajority Democrat lawmakers now work against governing the state, and work against the will of the people. Did you see it coming, or were you caught off guard?

California Voice: Proposition 5 a turbo engine for raising property taxes

California Voice: Proposition 5 a turbo engine for raising property taxes

By SUSAN SHELLEY
August 24, 2024

Proposition 5 makes it easier to raise property taxes.
The November ballot measure gets around Proposition 13’s limitations on property tax increases by making it easier for local governments to pass bonds, a method of borrowing money that is then paid back — with interest — by adding extra charges to property tax bills, sometimes for decades.

Marin Voice: State housing push still must respect fire hazard maps

Marin Voice: State housing push still must respect fire hazard maps

By Amy Kalish
August 1, 2024

Our state Legislature’s quest to remove any inhibitors to housing, no matter how impactful, has taken a new and dangerous form.
With Senate Bill 610, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) shows he is not content to merely wrest zoning control from cities. He is now targeting fire hazard severity zone maps as “impediments” to housing.