What Becomes of California Housing Policy After the Recall Election
Governor Gavin Newsom’s win clears the way for two bills that would tackle the affordability crisis through upzoning — and averts what advocates say could have been an “apocalyptic scenario” for housing reform.
In a landslide, California has made it through a recall with the same governor its voters elected handily in 2018. With that political
chaos in the rearview mirror, lawmakers are better positioned to turn back to one of the issues that helped bring its residents to such a divided place: the housing crisis.
Lost in the shuffle of ballots being cast for or against ousting incumbent Governor Gavin Newsom was the fact that in August, after years of failed efforts, the California legislature passed two bills that could shift the way housing gets built in California. Senate bills 9 and 10, which together would functionally eliminate single-family zoning across the state, have been sitting on Newsom’s desk waiting for a signature or a veto.