California has a major slate of housing law that’ll significantly push housing production this session and dramatically transform the state. There are three major proposed bills that have caught my eye. The first is Senate Bill 79, authored by state senator Scott Wiener (D - San Francisco), which is his fourth attempt at a transit-upzoning bill. SB 79 would re-zone areas around “high quality” transit stops, primarily rail stations, to allow for 6 - 7 story apartments within a quarter-mile of a major transit stations and 4 - 6 stories within a half-mile. The bill also removes a legal constraint on public transit agencies by allowing them to develop high-density housing and commercial properties on their public property with few restrictions. This is how East Asian countries approach mass transportation and it would provide alternative revenue for public transit by not leaving them dependent on fares and taxes for operations exclusively.

The other notable bill is Senate Bill 607, also authored by Wiener, which functionally exempts nearly all infill sites (meaning areas already developed) from CEQA lawsuits where the proposed project is housing, public transit and green energy related. By default, it declares these things in infill locations as inherently a climate and environmental good. Usage of CEQA to delay housing, green energy and transportation projects by NIMBYs in California was repeatedly cited in Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein’s “Abundance” book. CEQA is also used by the Building Trades to negotiate with non-profit and for-profit developers to use their labor or risk litigation. The last bill is Assembly Bill 647, authored by Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks (D - Oakland) and Mark González ( D - Los Angeles), which would legalize 2-8 unit homes on every owner-occupied parcel in California with 1 low income unit required. This bill will not be at the Senate Housing committee hearing on Tuesday since it’s an Assembly bill, but its significance is worth putting on your radar.

The situation in Sacramento today is much different than in 2019. The state has begun passing streamlining laws and zoning reforms with no political blowback as was once feared. After Trump’s 2024 victory, Democrats both at the state and federal level are looking at the grim projections of California’s housing shortage ceding more population to red states, who are rapidly out-building California in homes, which will cause the Democrats to be locked out of the presidency after 2030. This and the devastating fires in Los Angeles explains why so many major housing bills have been introduced this session, and why the stakes are high in the Housing Committee hearing on Tuesday.

With national pressure on California, state legislators are beginning to take this situation seriously and that’s reflected by AB 647, the 8-unit statewide law. What’s unique about this law is that co-authoring it with zoning trailblazer Buffy Wicks (D - Oakland) is Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez (D - Los Angeles), who is the former chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and a former presidential elector of the Electoral College. His co-authoring is a major deal since historically Los Angeles legislators are the most antagonistic to state housing laws due L.A.’s cultural disposition for single-family suburbanism. Gonzalez’s authoring of such a major law means L.A. legislators are probably thawing in favor of more home construction after years of fighting against the more pro-growth Bay Area represenatives.