Latest News
NOTE: The opinions expressed in the news items cited here do not necessarily represent the opinion of Catalysts for Local Control. We try to present a balanced picture of the news on the subject of housing and legislation.
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.
Newsom says he’ll sign bill slamming cities that run afoul of California housing laws
By Hillel Aron
September 4, 2024
California Governor Gavin Newsom said Wednesday he plans to sign a bill that would strengthen the state attorney general’s power to fine cities that flout state housing laws.
Once Senate Bill 1037 goes into effect, the attorney general can seek penalties that would be assessed from the date that the housing law violation began. Those much larger fines will now go toward building affordable housing in the jurisdiction being penalized.
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?
Comment on: Democrats are going big on housing despite the risks.
Ernesto A Barrera
August 26, 2024
Why is it necessary to destroy single family neighborhoods in order to build more affordable housing?
There is absolutely no formula of housing development and growth that indicates any significant lowering of housing costs if more housing is developed. The poor will never be able to afford a home or apartment under current policies of private sector development since there is no incentive to lower the price of housing 75-percent below market rates.
Democrats are going big on housing despite the risks
By JORDAN WOLMAN and MELANIE MASON
08/25/2024
CHICAGO — Democrats are trying to turn a political vulnerability, housing affordability, into a winning issue for November. The strategy carries significant risk: It’s likely to spark a host of fights across blue cities and states.
Top party leaders are leaning into what’s long been a perilous issue for the Democratic Party in response to voter outrage over the crunch of housing supply and the rising costs of homes and rents.
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.
YIMBYs to California: Drop dead
by Christopher LeGras
August 15, 2024
Legislature considering a bill that would make it easier for developers to build housing in high fire danger zones. Anyone still believe the YIMBYs give a fraction of a flip about housing affordability and struggling working Americans? No — the YIMBYs are about the almighty dollar. They are rapacious capitalists perversely masquerading as crusading social reformers.
Why the critical housing bond died
By TIM REDMOND
AUGUST 15, 2024
The $20 billion regional housing bond that was supposed to be on the November ballot would have been a game changer. The money would have paid for 70,000 units of non-market affordable housing, enough to make a dramatic difference in homelessness, housing costs, air quality, and so, so much more. Nolw it’s gone.
Bond voyage: Supporters yank California’s largest-ever affordable housing measure
BY BEN CHRISTOPHER
AUGUST 14, 2024
Backers pulled a $20 billion affordable housing bond off Bay Area ballots today, amid fears that it wouldn’t pass.
A $20 billion affordable housing bond — which would have been the largest ever of its kind and the subject of a campaign half-a-decade in the making — won’t go before San Francisco Bay Area voters this November after all. This morning, the board of the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority voted to scrap the measure for now, potentially punting the effort until at least 2026.