Last Bill Standing: California's Housing Proposals Narrowed Down

California lawmakers have trimmed the list of housing bills up for consideration this year. A proposal to allow housing development at Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, made the cut.

Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, head of Assembly Bill 2923 to allow BART station housing, explains, “Building housing near major transit hubs just makes sense." Chiu also leads Assembly Bill 2162, along with Tom Daly, D-Anaheim, to accelerate developments for the homeless or disabled, including permanent, low-income apartments with optional support services. Ahead of the August 31st deadline, the fiscal committees from both legislative houses cut bills including a proposal to raise the state tax credit for low-income renters, and a proposal to create a data clearinghouse on homelessness for the entire state, The East Bay Times reports. 

Assembly Bill 2372, by Assemblyman Todd Gloria, D-San Diego, aims to spur the creation of lower-cost efficiency units by rewarding developers based on how much usable floor space their projects would include per lot. As soaring housing prices threaten to uproot all but the wealthiest of residents, he said, he has been frustrated by how many high-cost luxury units are being built, and how few apartments that would be affordable to those of more modest means. “That has to change,” Gloria said, “if the human misery that people are suffering through the housing crisis right now is to end.”

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