The HomeWork: June 5, 2024
Welcome to the June 5, 2024 Main edition of The Homework, the official newsletter of California YIMBY — legislative updates, news clips, housing research and analysis, and the latest writings from the California YIMBY team.
News from Sacramento
We are approaching policy committee hearings before the Legislature heads to Summer recess on July 3rd. Here are the latest updates on our sponsored and high-priority bills:
Sponsored Bills:
- SB 937 (Wiener): This bill will authorize deferrals of impact fees and extends entitlements in order to provide developers tools to pencil out projects.
- Pending Committee referral.
- SB 1211 (Skinner): This bill will encourage more ADUs on multifamily properties by providing more flexibility around how ADUs can be built alongside existing multifamily housing.
- Referred to the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee.
- SB 1123 (Caballero): This bill updates SB 684 (2023) to make it legal to build up to 10 homes on single-family zoned vacant lots.
- Pending Committee referral.
- AB 1820 (Schiavo): This bill will require cities to provide a precise estimate of the fees required for a proposed housing development at the time of building permit application.
- Referred to the Senate Local Government and Housing Committee.
- AB 2580 (Wicks): This bill will require local governments to monitor how new historic designations could impact their ability to meet housing needs under existing state law, and report new historic buildings and districts to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) during the Annual Progress Report of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment process.
- Referred to the Senate Housing Committee.
- AB 3057 (Wilson): A technical fix to an existing law that will grant local Junior ADU ordinances the same exemption from environmental review that is already granted to standard ADU ordinances, recently passed the Assembly Floor and is making its way to the Senate side.
- Referred to the Senate Environmental Quality and Housing Committee.
High Priority Bills:
- AB 2144 (Grayson): This bill will reduce uncertainty around new home building by requiring local governments to provide evidence in their Annual Progress Reports, required by the state’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment, that they are complying with existing laws regarding transparency in impact fees.
- Referred to the Senate Housing Committee.
- SB 1210 (Skinner): This bill will help to eliminate uncertainty around utility connection fees by requiring that fees are clear, transparent, and posted online.
- Pending Committee referral.
Some important dates for the legislature:
- June 15th: The Legislature must pass the State Budget by midnight.
- June 27th: The last day for a legislative measure to qualify for the Nov. 5 General Election ballot.
- July 3rd: Last day for policy committees to meet and report on bills. In addition, Summer Recess begins upon adjournment.
To stay current on what housing bills California YIMBY is sponsoring, supporting, and watching, you can now use our Abstract link to track with us.
Stay tuned to future editions of The Homework, and follow the California YIMBY Twitter channel, @cayimby, to stay up to date on developments on the legislative session and related news.
Housing Research & Analysis
What is “Inclusionary Zoning”? The California YIMBY Explainer
When most people hear the term “affordable housing,” they think “housing that I can afford based on my income and expenses,” not “housing that is subsidized and restricted to households that make less than a certain income.”
However, in housing policy discussions, “affordable housing” is a technical term that specifically refers to rent-regulated, below-market-rate housing for people at specific income levels. This type of housing is also typically (but not always) subsidized, either by the government, or by other renters with higher incomes.
In the housing policy world, if your housing cost requires 30% or less of your income, that housing is considered affordable to you. If it’s over 30%, you’re considered “cost-burdened.” If it’s over 50%, you’re severely rent- or housing cost-burdened.
Houser Headlines
- Single-Family Zoning in California: A Statewide Analysis | Othering & Belonging Institute
- High housing costs may be California’s biggest problem. The state’s politics haven’t caught up
- Zoning Reforms to Mitigate America’s Affordable Housing Crisis – Urban Land Magazine
- Colorado takes a new – and likely more effective – approach to the housing crisis
- Opinion: California will force Malibu and other towns to add housing. Here’s why that’s not nearly enough
- One of every five new homes built in California last year was an ADU
- Why a California Plan to Build More Homes Is Failing
- The Painted Ladies explain California’s most important housing law
- You will soon be able to buy a cottage in someone’s backyard in Berkeley
- Why big-spending California voters are now pinching pennies – POLITICO
- Newsom unveils plan that would hasten insurance-rate reviews — and increases
- Opinion: Why would California rob from clean transportation to fund highway expansions?
- Why SF drivers say owning a car in the city is ‘miserable’
YIMBY Social – Top Posts
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