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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.
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.
Billions more for California housing? Why some construction unions aren’t sold yet
By Ben Christopher
August 13, 2024
California’s most unaffordable region is set to vote on a record-breaking affordable housing bond. Will state Democrats add a pro-union requirement to win over a powerful labor coalition?
But before developers, workers, pro-tenant and pro-building activists can start campaigning for the blockbuster borrowing measure in earnest, they’ll need to stop squabbling over who will get hired to build all the new homes and under what conditions.
‘Urgent’ need for affordable housing pushes wealthy Calif. town into overdrive
By Andrew Pridgen
Aug 10, 2024
Santa Barbara has a housing problem — or rather, a growing set of problems due to lack of housing. Not having enough housing for individuals and families who, by definition, are on the lower end of the income spectrum is part of the issue. But even Santa Barbara residents whose households make or exceed the median income thresholds, sometimes by as much as 200%, can’t afford to live here.
Sacramento case study: Low-barrier housing fails homeless long term
If Californian cities truly consider homeless citizens honored “guests,” wouldn’t they work to rehabilitate them instead of pushing short-term, accountability-free housing? The answer, says California Globe’s Katy Grimes, lies in pure politics: Costly development projects benefit legislators and their allies, while addiction and mental health treatment is challenging (and not as flashy) to implement.