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.
New bill may boost state enforcement powers over housing law
by Ruth Dusseault and Bay City News Service
March 22, 2024
California’s attorney general may be getting more muscle to discipline local governments that have violated state housing law via a new bill that would allow fines to be levied more quickly.
Under Senate Bill 1037, announced Wednesday by Attorney General Rob Bonta and state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, the attorney general could seek new penalties to be assessed from the date of a violation.
California Legislature rushes to spring recess
BY LYNN LA
MARCH 22, 2024
Thursday marked the final day for the Legislature before its starts a week-long spring break. So lawmakers were busy proposing and hearing some bills on contentious issues with deadlines coming up in late April and early May for them to advance.
The Case Against YIMBYism
Michael Friedrich/
March 15, 2024
Sonja Trauss, the charismatic founder of the YIMBY movement, recently spoke at a conference of fellow travelers about the importance of supporting small home builders. “Most neighborhoods are still zoned low-density, and so if you’re seeing new housing, it’s going to be small projects,” she said at Austin’s YIMBYtown 2024. Trauss bemoaned the onerous regulations, fees, and paperwork—not to mention meddling homeowners—that make it so hard for small firms to build
Why the Wiener housing bills will never work—and could destroy the coast. A detailed primer
By MICHAEL BARNES
MARCH 12, 2024
Coastal zone residents will soon discover how dysfunctional the latest California Regional Housing Assessment has become.
The RHNA (pronounced REE-na) process, and the housing elements based on it, have always been bureaucratic, expensive, and ineffective. But thanks to the intervention of state Senator Scott Wiener, RHNA has been twisted into a profit-making tool for corporate developers.
Livermore Petition Refusal is Ruled Unconstitutional
Coalition for Balanced Growth
March 7, 2024
Livermore city staff acted unconstitutionally when they refused to process referendum petitions for a vote of the people. This is another major court decision against the City of Livermore. Winning and losing in court is an occasional occurrence for most cities. Comparatively, this may be the most serious illegal activity the City of Livermore has ever accomplished.
Investors are gobbling up homes in one of California’s last ‘affordable’ regions
By Ariana Bindman
March 4, 2024
California’s Inland Empire is the type of place that most people drive through and quickly forget about.
Flanked by fading strip malls and Amazon warehouses, the arid region, which includes San Bernardino and Riverside counties, is an often overlooked part of Southern California that supposedly provides one of the last vestiges of affordable housing in the state. Recent data, however, suggests this may no longer be true.
Frustration with single-party Democratic rule is rising in California
By Zachary Faria
February 28, 2024
Californians are not feeling all the prosperity that California Democrats are often boasting about, and they are letting them know about it in a variety of ways.
Despite mailing ballots to all registered voters and moving its primary date up in the presidential calendar, California is currently on track for the lowest voter turnout in a primary in its history.
Opinion: Proposition 1 Is a Policy Disaster That Won’t Put a Dent in Homelessness
By Luke Tasker
Feb 25, 2024
Proposition 1, the “Behavioral Health Services Program and Bond Measure, is a policy disaster. From funding involuntary treatment to gutting county programs, the measure fails to even put a dent into the homelessness crisis while actively worsening conditions for mental health. It’s a bloated, cruel, and ineffective bill masquerading as a necessary reform.
State wants to limit Huntington Beach’s development authority
By MICHAEL SLATEN
February 24, 2024
A San Diego Superior Court judge heard arguments Friday over whether she should suspend some of Huntington Beach’s development authority, which could prevent the city from issuing building permits and making zoning changes, as part of the state’s lawsuit to get the city to build more housing.
“The city is standing in the way of the entire region meeting its housing need,” Deputy Attorney General Matthew Struhar said during oral arguments. “Because the city is doing that, the law requires accountability.”