Los Angeles housing permits are tanking, yet leaders want Newsom to veto a major reform

Gov. Gavin Newsom has a decision to make.

On his desk is Senate Bill 79 by state Sen. Scott Wiener, legislation that meets the moment on California’s climate, housing and transportation needs by allowing the construction of more homes near transit and existing job centers — exactly where California needs them most.

Signing it should be an easy call, especially after how heavily amended the bill was in the legislature. But there’s pressure to block it, and much of that pressure is coming from Los Angeles.

L.A. is in no position to set the state’s housing policy. Newsom should know that.

The city hit a 10-year low in housing permits last year, all while rents soar and homelessness persists. New York City, a city about twice as large as L.A. and also experiencing a housing crisis, is on track to build 50,000 units this year. Meanwhile, L.A. had permitted 3,100 as of July.

The housing that does get approved isn’t thanks to local leadership, either. Much of it is the result of state mandates like California’s density bonus law and the legalization of accessory dwelling units.

Without Sacramento’s intervention, Los Angeles would be building next to nothing.

Yet some of L.A.’s most powerful voices are asking the governor to pull the plug on SB 79. Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Traci Park and City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto have emerged as the city’s three chief NIMBYs.

In addition to gutting her own flagship affordable housing policy, ED 1, Bass has used her influence to secure an exemption from SB 9 in the Palisades, shielding one of the city’s wealthiest enclaves from modest duplex reforms. That compromise might be understandable — sensitive hillsides and fire zones aren’t the best places for new housing. But if we’re going to restrict growth there, then we have to make up for it elsewhere — especially in the urban, transit-rich parts of L.A. where new homes make the most sense.

Instead, Bass now argues that SB 79 somehow undermines a “pro-housing city like Los Angeles.” If L.A. were truly pro-housing, its permitting record wouldn’t be scraping the bottom.

Park and Feldstein Soto, in addition to campaigning against housing, have worked to block the Venice Dell affordable housing project on city-owned land — an already city council-approved project designed to house Angelenos most in need.

Rather than championing urgently needed homes, they’ve thrown up obstacles and delays time and time again.

The truth is clear: Los Angeles has failed to lead on housing, and when it has moved at all, it’s only because state law forced its hand. Giving L.A. a veto over state policy would doom California to more of the same — rising costs, worsening displacement and endless obstruction.

Newsom has pledged bold leadership on housing. Now is the moment to show it. SB 79 is not about punishing cities; it’s about ensuring that homes get built where they make the most sense — in urban, transit-rich areas where people can thrive without long commutes or car dependence.

The governor shouldn’t take housing advice from Los Angeles. He should sign SB 79, lead the state forward and send a clear message: California’s future won’t be held back by NIMBY politics.