That was made clear Tuesday, when Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco introduced for the third time for religious organizations and nonprofit colleges to build 100% affordable housing on their property. The proposal 鈥� part of the YIGBY, or Yes In God鈥檚 Back Yard, movement 鈥� would allow those groups to bypass local zoning laws and California鈥檚 landmark environmental review process, both of which can delay projects for years and tack on millions of dollars in additional costs.
(The state itself wound up on the losing end of an environmental review lawsuit Tuesday, that the state Department of General Services didn鈥檛 sufficiently analyze the environmental impacts of its more than $1 billion project to that houses offices for Gov. Gavin Newsom, lawmakers and their staff. The ruling will .)
- Wiener said in a statement: 鈥淐alifornia has a deep housing shortage, and we need every available tool to create the housing we so desperately need.鈥�
- About 40,000 acres of land currently used for religious purposes 鈥� an area roughly the size of the city of Stockton 鈥� could be unlocked, though numerous barriers to development would remain, according to .
- A previous version of Wiener鈥檚 bill , as did a similar proposal in 2020 amid opposition from , which argued it didn鈥檛 contain enough job protections and .
- But, after a major breakthrough earlier this year, when lawmakers and unions , Wiener .
The high-profile bill announcement came the same day that from a person who accused him of being a pedophile and of grooming children. Wiener, who , attributed the threats to 鈥渕y work to end discrimination against LGBTQ people in the criminal justice system and my work to ,鈥� in addition to 鈥渉omophobic鈥� tweets from Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and 鈥淢AGA activist鈥� Charlie Kirk.
- Citing a 鈥渞ising tide of political violence,鈥� Democratic Assemblymember Mia Bonta of Oakland to make it easier for candidates and elected officials to use campaign funds to pay for electronic security systems and personal security for themselves, their families and staff. The bill would, among other things, eliminate the requirement that law enforcement verify a threat before funds are approved.
Back to housing: As policymakers consider seemingly every avenue to 鈥� some California lawmakers are pushing to turn , while the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday on gas stations and parking lots 鈥� that and economic headwinds could hinder development.
Still, there鈥檚 no time like the present to build. That was a key takeaway of , or Yes In My Back Yard, that outlines a roadmap to . It suggests that California 鈥� 鈥� might do well to follow in the footsteps of Houston, which cut homelessness in half from 2011 to 2020.
One big reason for Houston鈥檚 success, Ned Resnikoff, California YIMBY鈥檚 policy director, : 鈥淲hile California cities have spent decades throwing up obstacles to housing construction, Houston has declined to even impose a citywide zoning code,鈥� allowing it to build more homes faster and keep 鈥減rices lower than in much of California, even as the city鈥檚 population has grown significantly faster.鈥�
In other development news: Amid a declining inmate population and with 鈥渁n eye toward fiscal responsibility,鈥� Newsom鈥檚 administration plans to shutter its third state prison 鈥� Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Riverside County 鈥� in March 2025, . The state prison system also plans to terminate in March 2024 a $32 million annual lease with CoreCivic, a private company that operates the California City Correctional Facility, and deactivate certain facilities in six other prisons.
The announcement could prove divisive: The city of Susanville in rural Lassen County, for example, over its plans to shutter by June 2023 the California Correctional Center, arguing that it would also shut down the city鈥檚 economy. (State labor officials .)
But criminal justice advocates cheered the news: 鈥淩esearch backs up decades of lived experience that over-reliance on incarceration only compounds the conditions that create violence and does nothing to actually prevent crime in the first place,鈥� Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice, said in a statement. 鈥淚t is far past time we 鈥� prioritize investing in the creation of a treatment and crime prevention infrastructure that millions of Californians have needed for generations.鈥�
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