SB 51: the California politics thread

Wiener made three major changes to the bill that aim to soften opposition from tenant groups and their allies that helped torpedo the prior effort. The legislation blocks developers from using the bill if they planned to knock down properties that renters had occupied within at least the previous seven years. It also allows communities facing pressures from gentrification and displacement to propose alternative plans to boost homebuilding instead of using the system outlined in the bill. And it loosens local zoning restrictions in communities with high median incomes, quality schools and short commutes to jobs, even if there isn’t access to transit nearby — an effort to push development into wealthier areas that might have previously resisted it.

Key details about the latter two provisions remain unresolved, as do rules about how much of the new development will be reserved for low-income residents.

amazing thread

This is literally the YIMBY-est year in the Legislature. Ho boy. I am reviewing all the bills that dropped today - join me. A thread. (1/x)

— Louis Mirante (@louismirante) December 4, 2018

some notable bills

AB 56!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Edwardo Garcia) would require a report on how to nationalize the energy industry for all residential customers.

— Louis Mirante (@louismirante) December 4, 2018

AB 68 (@PhilTing) is a MAJOR reform, allowing more casitas or accessory dwelling units. It allows more nice tiny homes in your backyard! Very cool.

— Louis Mirante (@louismirante) December 4, 2018

(already a big and surprisingly effective deal in LA county)

SB 50 has 11 co-authors, meaning the bill already has the support of fully ten percent of #caleg, and it is just day 1. Boy, this is gunna be a year.

— Louis Mirante (@louismirante) December 4, 2018

Oof. pic.twitter.com/FFC1Ltg9TI

— 🌹Revolutionary💥Clown🍉 (@RevClown) December 21, 2018

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Proposition-13-is-no-longer-off-limits-in-13492400.php

missing from this article: possible global recession right around the time we're asking people to vote for higher taxes on businesses.

Just as there's never a convenient time for an emergency, there's never a convenient time to raise taxes. It would be nice if governments around the globe all decided to shut down those off-shore shell companies used for tax evasion. That would raise a fair bit of pocket change.

Yeah and of course it's exactly because of recessions that CA needs to diversify its revenue beyond pro-cyclical income taxes...

this is a good article on one aspect of that cyclical revenue hazard

https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-pol-ca-next-california-economy/

good point:

SB 827 didn’t pass but it moved the window. Marin’s state senator feels compelled to offer a housing bill. https://t.co/fiAQbjJq7v

— 🎄 Dingnogitude! 🎄 (@VamonosLA) January 2, 2019

PG&E breakup looking increasingly likely

https://www.sfgate.com/california-wildfires/article/PG-E-considering-selling-its-natural-gas-division-13509622.php?t=f8e4a3e331

long thread of wonky stuff

New California Gov. @GavinNewsom is proposing a huge new investment in low-income housing and a host of new policies to boost housing production overall in his first budget

— Liam Dillon (@dillonliam) January 10, 2019

including this

Wow. Newsom now talking about housing. He says if cities and countries don’t meet their housing production goals, the state will take away gas tax money from them

— Liam Dillon (@dillonliam) January 10, 2019

Cannot underscore how big a deal this is. The new governor says if cities don’t meet their housing goals they will lose transportation funds. A huge stick. “If you’re not hitting your goals, I don’t know why you should be getting the money.”

— Liam Dillon (@dillonliam) January 10, 2019

it's all proposition 13

31,000 teachers are on strike in LA for smaller class sizes (and better pay), and the school district is pleading poverty—we shouldn't forget some of the reasons why California's largest public school district is perpetually underfunded:

— Sam Dean 🦅 (@SamAugustDean) January 14, 2019

so has everybody dumped their PG&E shares yet cuz boy are we in for a rollercoaster

*Nelson laugh*

California GOP lawmaker defects to Democrats in latest blow, blames Trump https://t.co/jglrzkyvCy

— Carla Marinucci (@cmarinucci) January 24, 2019

"Republicans hold just 19 out of 80 seats in the California Assembly. The entire state legislative delegation from San Diego — long a stronghold of conservative politics in California — will be represented in Sacramento by Democrats."https://t.co/s8clk9cX3I

— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) January 24, 2019

I mean the earliest mayor I remember from growing up in San Diego was Pete Wilson. Things have reallllly changed.

Pete Wilson, architect of the CA GOP's destruction

the baddest governor to ever grab a mic and go booom, iirc

Wonderful, now gas lines are erupting into massive walls of flames.

Just when you thought municipal infrastructural fires were limited only to rural windswept canyons or valleys...

whoah holy shit

I blame PG&E cuz why not

what?

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Explosion-in-San-Francisco-causes-fire-injuries-13595313.php

Wonder if the backhoe engulfed in flames had anything to do with it.

ya think

All 8 members of the PG&E crew are accounted for.

Former state Sen. Kevin de León is running to replace Jose Huizar on the Los Angeles City Council, ⁦@DavidZahniser⁩ reports: https://t.co/ttop40wUNw

— Laura J. Nelson 🦅 (@laura_nelson) February 11, 2019

icymi, what seems likely to turn into a huge development corruption scandal involving DTLA, overseas developers and several city hall offices (including garcetti's and herb wesson's, although currently only tangentially) began the morning after the november election when the FBI raided all the jose huizar (my guy!) offices, and carried out boxes of papers labelled "FUNDRAISING", and named his extended family in warrants. huizar is term limited and was hoping to install his wife, but what with the warrants and her particular involvement (apparent grifting on his behalf for his old private school?!), there's a vacancy.

de leon used to rep the state seat that included this council district, so it's not total carpet bagging. the CD now includes most of DTLA, so is perhaps the most influential CD, especially with the olympics coming up. there's a bunch of musical chairs going on in LA politics right now after garcetti announced he's not running for president, so this may complicate things.

'carried out boxes of papers labelled "FUNDRAISING"'

^^^ it seems the new LAT guild has a clause in their contract that they have to mention this in every story they do about huizar btw

there's this more-crucial-than-normal school board election coming up as well, with something like ten candidates on the ballot, all lining up to replace a guy who is gone due to a scandal over campaign contributions. seems like the new board member would be a key swing vote in the whole public schools vs charters thing. We very, very casually know one of the folks running, enough to nod in passing, but we're probably throwing our votes to someone else.

when is that election?

March 5. I'm trying to find out more about Goldberg, she might be good?

Hi Speed Rail DOA'd by slick Gavvy:

https://www.apnews.com/783b336c787a42fd9148986786ee73cf

Stupid move

I was passively listening to the state of the state this morning and thought I heard him say something about how "it would be unwise to back out at this point" and I took that as meaning he was still going forward, but I guess he must've been referring to the Bakersfield to Madera segment specifically. bummer, if the funding's not there, it's just not there, and no amount of optimism can change that. I've helped prepare EIRs for railroad realignment and doubletracking projects that were only 2 or 3 miles long, and the cost and schedule for those always reliably bloomed to at least 200% of the original contract estimate within the first few phases of design. so this is no surprise, but still a bummer.

would love for him to wring out some of that grease from his hair and use it to lube up the political mechanism necessary to repeal prop 13!

^^^^^

I've come to the opinion that the California HSR problems have been caused by poor management rather than poor political decisions or poor vision. Sadly, if Jerry didn't have the appetite for the details, Gavin seems unlikely to have risen to the occasion...

fajita seas, I like your username. I think it's entirely possible that some of the poor management was the result of the manager's poor political decisions and poor visions, but I don't suppose that matters much now. Jerry probably wasn't expected to be responsible for the details, but the buck was supposed to stop with him, and inevitably it now did, but with Gavin now instead. So, what can you do?

shakey: https://laist.com/2019/02/12/la_mayor_wants_to_shut_down_three_power_plants_in_favor_of_clean_energy_alternatives.php

This would have been an amazing line had it been delivered in, I dunno... a State of the State address? https://t.co/BJf2h8EIrW

— Alissa Walker (@awalkerinLA) February 14, 2019

I only learned about this when I was doing my mandatory CPE last year:
https://www.ftb.ca.gov/businesses/Substandard_Housing_Program/state_and_local_agencies.shtml

I feel like more could be done here

this is fucking cool

https://edsource.org/2019/newsom-names-new-head-of-state-board-of-education-in-california

misread as State Board of Equalization, and i thought -1- i dunno anyone else on ilx who would be interested in the head of the State Board of Equalization and -2- they reorganized and now it's the Department of Tax and Fee Administration and they are still having issues w/their website redesign

that's it, SB 50 is going to pass

Lol, Gary Wesley, a niche-famous contrarian who weighs on any ballot measure without a supporter or opponent, is already saying SB 50 is going to pass and that he may need a ballot measure to over turn it. https://t.co/Hkj9WBy5WT

— Louis Mirante (@louismirante) February 24, 2019

restrict new job centers to areas with room for additional nearby housing, such as south Santa Clara County.

and the housing in south Santa Clara County is mostly low density single family homes for people commuting to Gary Wesley-land, so that you get more low density single family homes built in San Benito County ... but that really doesn't address how the low density sprawl of the valley has fucked up the rental housing market in Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco

Great news! This one bedroom house in Santa Monica is for sale for $5,000,000 and the owners pay taxes on an assessed value of $100,000!

Awesome that local schools are definitely benefitting from those extremely high property taxes! Teachers are so rich already! pic.twitter.com/JDq6soH4wA

— I Crave Star Damage! (@jelenawoehr) March 8, 2019

fkn prop 13

the fact that this applies to commercial property as well really makes me angry. Also, I think property tax amounts in LA County aren't public? If anyone knows how to view property tax history in LA County, I'm serious. Most counties it's easy to find, but LA County, it looks like you have to have a PIN or something ...

BREAKING: @GavinNewsom to sign moratorium on executions in California --
reprieve for hundreds on Death Row https://t.co/i3lHXjdAgf

— Carla Marinucci (@cmarinucci) March 13, 2019

NICE (but not sure how this plays out given the electorate has repeatedly and recently affirmed it's support for the death penalty. maybe we find out how far left we've moved in the past couple of years.)

I think it's a good time to do it, near the start of his term. Will be interested in the impact.