If special interests get their way this November, it could become even harder and more costly to build housing in California, which would make rents and mortgages more expensive for millions of Californians.
Proposition 33 would strip the state’s ability to enforce housing laws across the state and put most, if not all, of our recent progress on housing in jeopardy.
While it is being pushed by anti-housing advocates as a measure to help tenants, in reality Proposition 33 is a dangerous Trojan horse that would unwind years of hard work and hard-fought gains to increase housing production and lower costs in California. This so-called rent control measure is so overbroad that it could even make it harder for homeowners to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on their own property.
In my years in the state Legislature, where I served both as speaker of the state Assembly and Senate president pro tem, I have been focused on addressing California’s housing crisis. I have authored and guided dozens of bills aimed at making California housing more affordable and accessible for everyone. We have cut red tape and eased outdated regulations, to stop the regulatory abuse by anti-housing forces, and made it cheaper and easier to build across California.
Proposition 33 will make California’s housing crisis worse, and reverse so much of the progress we have made over the last several years to change California’s regulations to make them more housing friendly.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. Many housing advocates including Housing Action Coalition, California YIMBY, San Diego Chamber of Commerce and the California Conference of Carpenters are joining me in voting “no” on 33.
Proposition 33 is bad public policy. It makes it harder to hold cities accountable for failing to build the housing our communities so desperately need, and it gives NIMBY forces a cynical new weapon to kill housing projects with.
We all know California is in the midst of an affordability crisis. A major driver of that crisis is a shortage of housing. Failure to build the homes and apartments we need has driven up rents and mortgages from San Diego to Shasta County, making it harder than ever for people to see a future for themselves, or their families, in the golden state.
The housing crisis ihas s an opportunity crisis, making it harder for Californians to make ends meet, and pushing people out of state, putting the dream of home ownership out of reach for California’s middle class. The median-priced home in California is now north of $830,000 — a price that only 16 percent of California households can afford. The state’s average rent is the highest in the continental United States, according to the American Community Survey.
In recent years, Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation authored by me and my colleagues to boost and accelerate the construction of desperately needed affordable housing across California. These bills cut red tape for housing projects, and made it easier for homeowners to build, sell and even rent out accessory dwelling units on their property. These reforms and cost savings only work if we speed up the review process and create statewide rules that all cities must follow.
Through hard work and strong leadership, we are bringing an end to the era of saying no to housing in our state. California desperately needs to ramp up affordable housing production, and our work has put us on a path to achieve those goals.
Proposition 33 blocks that path. It means more lawsuits, less housing, and higher rents and mortgages. Proposition 33 will make it harder for families to achieve the California dream, and drive more people out of our state.
We must reject this measure in November, and send a message that we won’t let anti-housing special interests prolong California’s affordability crisis. Don’t be fooled by this deceitful attempt to roll back years of progress for California’s housing future. Vote “no” on Proposition 33.
Atkins is California Senate president pro tempore emeritus and lives in San Diego.