SB 50

On this episode of Gimme Shelter, Matt Levin of CalMatters and Liam Dillon of the Los Angeles Times discuss the argument for local control over housing decisions with Marin County slow growth activist Susan Kirsch and Juan Guarza, mayor pro tem of the city of Bellflower in Southern California.

John Mirisch: Scores of housing bills circulate in Sacramento, one worse than the next. Collectively, they threaten to destroy our unique and dynamic communities to various degrees, many in the service of Wall Street and other special interest groups. Wall Street is notorious for not caring about the path of destruction it leaves in its wake in search of ever-greater profits.

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.

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.

Michael Weinstein, rent-control advocate and president of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, had a rough time in Sacramento last week.

A controversial bill that would force California cities to allow denser housing around public transit cleared a major hurdle, but only after its sponsor agreed to go easier on smaller-sized counties.