California lawmakers want $10 billion for housing

Riding the momentum of a handful successful pro-housing bills last yearsome Democratic lawmakers are proposing $10 billion in bonds that they aim for easing California’s housing crisiswrites Yue Stella Yu of CalMatters.

Last week, the Senate Housing Committee passed a bill that would put housing bonds before voters during this year’s primaries. $7 billion will go to the state’s multifamily housing program, which offers loans to low-income residents for rental housing.

Another $2 billion will go toward rental assistance and affordable housing for low-income renters and farmworkers, and the remaining $1 billion will help low-income, first-time buyers with their down payments.

• Sen. Chris CabaldonDemocrat from Napa and author of the bill, during a hearing last week: “These homes are not building themselves, and it’s time to finish the job. To unlock the full promise of these reforms, money is needed.”

The bill is expected to be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee next week and, if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, would be on the June ballot.

But it hasn’t been smooth sailing for other housing bills. On Tuesday, a proposal that would limit how much landlords can raise rents each year failed to garner enough votes in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Introduced last year by a member of the assembly Ash Kalrathe bill faced strong opposition from a coalition of landlords and realtors who argued the measure would make financing rental housing more difficult and squeeze home landlords.

Calra, a San Jose Democrat who also chairs the Judiciary Committee, told CalMatters that the bill failed because “we’re listening to these wealthy landowners and condo owners, not those who are literally struggling.”

Read more here.

President Donald Trump’s administration has suspended efforts to appeal a November court ruling that barred it from withholding transportation funding from states that do not comply with its immigration enforcement policies.

By withdrawing its appeal on Tuesday, the administration is “taking the case” in favor of California and more than a dozen other states that sued the administration, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.

• Bonta: “I’m pleased the Trump administration has conceded defeat. … We will continue to take the president to justice every time he uses federal funding as a weapon to bully our communities.”

In April, the US Department of Transportation issued a directive trying to stake billions of dollars in federal transportation funding — which would have gone toward public infrastructure like roads, highways and bridges — to pressure states to cooperate with the administration’s immigration policies. These include “not obstructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement” and not “taking actions designed to protect illegal aliens from ICE detection.”

Arguing that Congress, not the president, has the authority to allocate federal dollars, California and other states sued. In November, a federal court sided with the states, granting a permanent injunction to block the funding cuts. In the ruling, a district judge said the federal transportation department “clearly exceeded its statutory authority … and violated well-settled constitutional restrictions on federal funding conditions.”

From CalMatters climate reporter Alejandro Lazo:

California regulators on Tuesday took a first step toward overhauling cap-and-invest, a key climate program and one of the state’s largest sources of funding for projects ranging from zero-emission vehicles to high-speed rail and wildfire prevention.

Cap and invest limits greenhouse gas pollution by capping emissions and allowing companies to trade a limited number of permits with each other, rewarding those who cut emissions the fastest.

The open offer by the California Air Resources Board would reduce the supply of permits to target emissions from the state’s top polluters by 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 85% by 2045. Climate Plan 2022 calls for steeper cuts, but regulators say rising consumer spending is a cause for concern.

The board is expected to vote in May, setting off a debate between industry and climate advocates.

The program too funds high-speed rail and wildfire-fighting effortsincluding hundreds of millions for Cal Fire in Newsom’s proposed budget unveiled last week.

The California Coastal Commission is fining a Carlsbad homeowner $2.4 million over allegations the resident blocked public beach access, removed sensitive habitat and installed an illegal pickleball court.

The homeowner, in turn, is suing the commission, arguing that the state agency charged with protecting California’s coastline violated his due process rights. Read more by Deborah Brennan of CalMatters.