Californians struggling to pay the rent have effectively been taken hostage by politics in Sacramento.
In the final two weeks of the two-year legislative session, adoption of Governor Brown’s “by right” proposal appears increasingly unlikely. News reports indicate that opponents of Brown’s plan have walked away from negotiations. But the takeaway from this year shouldn’t be about which interest groups emerged as winners. Instead, Californians should be outraged that in the budget “deal” for housing made in the Capitol earlier this year, they stood to lose the most. The $400 million budget commitment legislators made to build affordable homes will not be realized until Governor Brown is satisfied barriers to construction of urban, multi-family developments with an affordable component are sufficiently removed – giving a few narrow interests the power to block crucial investment in homes for families and jobs for Californians.
With a full-blown housing affordability crisis here and growing, California must do better than allow political stalemate to drive more Californians into poverty and send more jobs out of state. In the coming months, CHC will play a leading role in bringing together affordable homebuilders, homeless service providers, advocates for seniors, veterans, children and Californians with low-incomes to demand Gov. Brown and Legislative leaders stop taking hostages and start taking action. A crucial first step must be authorizing the $400 million investment allocated in the FY 16-17 budget to get shovel-ready developments underway while discussions continue over meaningful land use reforms.
As always, your voices as affordable homebuilders, job creators and community leaders will be crucial in this effort.
Sincerely,
Ray Pearl
CHC Executive Director
