Impact fees and housing + Equality California calls out Goodfellow + Red districts turning blue
Happy Wednesday, readers. We’re halfway to the weekend!
WHAT’S THE IMPACT?
Four legislative committees are meeting this morning to discuss one of California’s greatest barriers to getting more cranes in the sky and homes built: impact fees.
What — The joint hearing will focus on the “balance between the need for robust public services supported by the proceeds of impact fees and the potential ramifications fees have on development home prices,” according to a press release for the hearing.
Who — The Senate Committee on Governance and Finance; Senate Committee on Housing; Assembly Committee on Local Government; and Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development. Developers and the Terner Center for Housing Innovation are also scheduled to be at the hearing.
Why — Because building in California is expensive! Lawmakers are looking to reform impact fees because they raise prices, stall projects and frustrate developers, advocates say.
Also important — Gov. Gavin Newsom wants the Legislature to step in and figure out solutions to getting 3.5 million units built in the Golden State by 2025, a goal the governor set for himself in 2018 while campaigning. A group of Democrats already announced legislation on Monday that targets development fees. So they’re listening.
Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, said the “trade-offs” of impact fees carry “both benefits and challenges.”
“California has a housing crisis, in big cities and small, and every policy is being scrutinized to ensure maximum build out of units in the most efficient period of time,” McGuire said. “We’re coming together on Wednesday to study fee impacts on service levels in our communities, housing availability and rent affordability.”
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 in room 4202.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN SD 23?
California’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization condemned a Democratic political candidate this week, alleging she used messaging that inappropriately discussed her Democratic rival’s sexual orientation and ethnicity.
The dispute centers on two Democrats running for an Inland Empire state Senate seat: Kris Goodfellow and Abigail Medina.
Equality California alleges that Goodfellow had made false claims against Medina’s “personal life, her family and her sexual orientation.” Medina is a member of the LGBTQ community. She is also the daughter of immigrants, according to her campaign website.
A letter the group’s executive director sent to Goodfellow on Monday also claims the California National Organization for Women was disconcerted by her responses in an endorsement questionnaire.
Rick Zbur wrote in his letter that Goodfellow’s campaign has “engaged in an ongoing anti-LGBTQ+ smear campaign.”
“Homophobia — or appeals to negative prejudice against openly LGBTQ+ candidates — has no place in California,” Zbur wrote. “On behalf of Equality California, I ask that you immediately stop any and all defamatory attacks against Ms. Medina’s character, including those related to her sexual orientation or ethnicity.”
Goodfellow said she was not engaged in a “smear campaign,” and said her team has focused on “issues that matter to voters,” like creating jobs, quality education, health care and defending the LGBTQ community.
“I remain deeply committed to advancing policies that unite our communities and would never engage in the kind of campaign tactics that have been alleged,” she wrote to Zbur on Tuesday.
FROM RED TO PURPLE?
California regions that were once Republican strongholds are trending increasingly Democratic, according to a new report published by the Public Policy Institute of California.
Where once regional trends showed a “bifurcated state,” with Democratic Los Angeles and Bay Area and Republican everywhere else, “this status quo is showing signs of cracking,” PPIC wrote in the report.
The study found that the Central and South Coast of California have become more Democratic.
“The shift in this region has large electoral consequences because the two-party vote for the central/south coast hovers around 50 percent. In fact, Democrats won new seats in 2018, and many of them came from the central/south coast,” according to the report.
The report also found that President Donald Trump’s support is “underwater” in all but the most rural parts of the state.
“More surprising is the fact that approval outstrips disapproval in only five of our 46 places, representing about 3 percent of the total population,” according to the report.
You can read the full report here.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Spaying and neutering pets helps control the population of stray animals and is beneficial to the health of our furry friends. On World Spay Day, please help spread awareness about why spaying and neutering is important!”
- Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, via Twitter.
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