Former President Barack Obama has urged Democrats to stop being ideologically stuck and start building homes to address the housing crisis, while some critics argue that his previous administration’s housing response prioritized banks over borrowers and left many behind.
Los Angeles’ homelessness crisis was created by a century of political choices, including the criminalization of poverty, the dismantling of mental health institutions, and the construction of luxury housing, and can be solved by building affordable housing and providing services to those in need.
California is enforcing its housing laws to combat the state’s housing crisis, with a recent battle in Fairfax, Marin County, testing whether a town can obstruct housing development and get away with it.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced the reorganization of California’s government structure to create two new agencies, the California Housing and Homelessness Agency and the Business and Consumer Services Agency, to address the state’s housing and homelessness challenges.
America is missing 15 million homes due to zoning codes, permitting delays, and political resistance, which have effectively closed off the suburban growth engine and led to rising housing costs, displacement, and homelessness.
American cities are becoming increasingly divided, with wealth concentrated in certain areas while poverty is entrenched in others, and the housing crisis is not just a supply problem but a moral one that requires realignment of housing with opportunity.
California’s reorganization plan to create a Housing and Homelessness Agency and a Business and Consumer Services Agency aims to address the state’s housing crisis, with the Little Hoover Commission recommending additional reforms to ensure success.
California’s high poverty rate is largely due to high housing costs, and addressing this by building more housing could be a necessary condition for solving the state’s poverty problem.
A lawsuit has been filed challenging the Trump administration’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 60,000 individuals from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua, arguing that it is unlawful and a deliberate step towards dismantling humanitarian protections for immigrants.
The NMHC report shows that America’s underproduction of housing has led to a decline in renter mobility, negatively impacting the labor market and economic potential.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of 18 states have filed an amicus brief to halt aggressive ICE and CBP immigration raids in Los Angeles, citing constitutional violations and harm to public safety and the economy.
CEQA reforms are a necessary step in streamlining housing development, but they will not solve the entire housing crisis in California, which is a national problem requiring political courage, financial tools, and federal leadership.
California has passed a law to gut the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for most urban residential development, which is a win for individual property rights, economic mobility, and constitutional sanity, and the authors of a recent law review article argue that exclusionary zoning is a per se taking that violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
California has passed two bills to reform the CEQA, limiting the use of CEQA as a tool for labor negotiations and ensuring that environmentally beneficial infill housing projects are not stopped by procedural tricks.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has charged a Beverly Hills real estate agent with violating a state law by raising rents by over 30% after a disaster, and the real estate industry has a history of hiring hitmen to eliminate partners or competitors.
SB 79, a bill introduced by Senator Scott Wiener, aims to legalize more multi-family housing near public transit stations by establishing statewide zoning standards, which would help address California’s housing affordability crisis and advance climate goals.
Civil and immigration rights groups have filed a lawsuit against federal authorities for allegedly conducting unconstitutional raids in Southern California, denying workers and U.S. citizens food, water, and access to an attorney, and detaining them in overcrowded “dungeon-like” facilities.
The California Civil Rights Department has reached a settlement with Sacramento landlords Carlos and Linda Torres, requiring them to pay $37,500 to a tenant and $5,000 to the CRD, and to undergo training on housing discrimination and harassment.
SB 79, a transit-oriented housing bill, has passed the Assembly Housing Committee and aims to increase housing supply, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and make public transit more accessible to residents by upzoning land near rail stations and frequent bus stops across California.
California’s property crime rate has fallen to historic lows, despite claims from supporters of Prop. 36 that the measure was needed to address rising crime, and the state’s progress on public safety is being threatened by federal and state funding cuts.