Senate Bill 1037, by state Senator Scott Wiener, would strengthen the state attorney general’s hand at forcing cities to comply with laws mandating more housing.
Hillel Aron / September 4, 2024
A new home under construction. (Paul Brennan/Pixabay via Courthouse News)
(CN) — 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.
Currently, when the attorney general accuses a city of ignoring such laws, including those that require cities to draw up plans that would expand the number of housing units, he or she must file a lawsuit against the city. If the judge rules that the city is out of compliance, the judge can impose monetary penalties but they only start accruing 60 days — or in some cases, up to a year — after the ruling.
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.
“When we pass state housing laws, we mean it, and when cities flagrantly violate these laws, they must know they will face consequences,” said state Senator Scott Wiener, the bill’s author and one of Sacramento’s biggest champion of increasing the housing supply, in a statement. “California has made remarkable progress reforming our broken housing approvals system in recent years, but our housing laws are only as strong as our enforcement.”
For years, Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta have sought to increase the pressure on cities to adopt plans that call for the production of more housing, and to approve affordable housing projects. On Wednesday, Bonta and Newsom announced a settlement with the city of Elk Grove of its denial of a proposed 66-unit supportive housing project. The Sacramento suburb agreed to pay $150,000 and find a new site for the project.
“We can’t solve California’s homelessness crisis without creating new housing and supportive services,” Newsom said in a written statement. “Elk Grove is not immune to this challenge, and the city’s decision to block these efforts — wasting valuable time and resources — is especially shameful. We expect Elk Grove to follow the law — continued refusal will not be tolerated.”
Bonta has also sued a slew of cities that have refused to plan for an increase in housing production, including the Orange County city of Huntington Beach.
SB 1037 would effectively stiffen the penalties levied against cities like Huntington Beach. It would apply “only in jurisdictions that have acted arbitrarily, not to cities that make good faith errors,” Wiener said.
Newsom said Wednesday that he had 991 bills on his desk awaiting signature or veto. One particularly high-profile and divisive bill passed by Legislature, controlled by a Democratic supermajority, would provide up to $150,000 in low-cost loans to people in the United States illegally who want to buy a home for the first time.
The state government formula: set unreasonable, unachievable housing “goals,” then seize land use and zoning control from local governments when they are (very predictably) unable to comply. It’s all about one-size-fits-all Central Command and Control, and the big-money real estate investors and developers are reaping a huge windfall, payback for years of fat campaign contributions. Best government money can buy.