Housing Crisis

By a significant margin, a majority of Californians want the state Legislature to force local governments to build more housing. They're in for a disappointment.

Jared Martin: In this legislative session, our state’s leaders have spoken with great passion about solving the housing crisis. They say this is the most critical issue facing California. They question how our state’s future will look if we don’t act now. Yet lawmakers haven’t been willing to take the tough votes to move forward meaningful policy that advances the solution: supply.

California sues, looks to tax opioid maker. Newsom clarifies stand on vaccination legislation. "Gimme Shelter" sifts through housing bill wreckage.

The head of the chief developers' group is increasingly pessimistic that they can cut a deal with unions to kickstart home building in California—although both sides are still talking.

Updated May 30, 2019  California tenants just scored a rare victory in the state Capitol—emphasis on the rare. A high-profile bill passed by the state Assembly would impose a “rent-gouging cap” on annual rent increases for the vast majority of renters. If approved by the state Senate and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, it would […]

Legislature reaches deal on police use of force bill. No deal on e-cigarette legislation. Newsom promises action on housing crisis.

On this emergency episode of "Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast," CALmatters'  Matt Levin and the Los Angeles Times' Liam Dillon discuss why SB 50 failed, and what it means for other housing legislation going forward this year.

The sudden demise of the year’s most controversial state housing bill was celebrated by some and bemoaned by others. But very few—supporters, opponents, and even the author himself—can claim to have seen this coming.

Inside the Capitol’s corridors and pro-development quarters around the state, the California Environmental Quality Act is increasingly disparaged as a villain in the state’s housing crisis. But the act’s environmentalist defenders are pushing back, saying many projects slip too easily through—leading to overdrawn groundwater tables and disappearing forests. And whatever the urgency to build more housing, environmentalists say there’s nothing to preempt a rigorous review of commercial proposals—even ones as visually appealing as vineyards in the Napa Valley.

Buoyed by California’s strong economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom sent state lawmakers a revised budget on Thursday that boosts his already-hefty January proposal to $213.6 billion. Ka-ching! Public schools will reap most of the gains if the Democratic-controlled Legislature rolls with him. Newsom also upped his ante on the housing crisis with a proposed $1 billion […]