California apartments twice as expensive to build than in Texas, report says
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COSTLY CONSTRUCTION
Building apartments in California is more than twice as expensive than in Texas, according to a report released Wednesday by Rand, the international research group.
“The time to bring a project to completion in California is more than 22 months longer than the average time required in Texas,” the analysis found.
The report reviewed data from more than 100 completed apartment developments in California, Texas and Colorado. California was the most expensive of the three.
“These are really important benchmarks for policymakers to think about,” said Jason Ward, co-director of Rand’s Center on Housing and Homelessness and the lead author of the study.
“It’s literally impossible to overstate the issue of affordability in California,” said Ward, who used to live in Southern California before moving to the Chicago area. The price of housing was a factor in that decision.
The report also came with recommendations.
It said California lawmakers should adopt a policy that requires local governments to approve or deny plans for housing projects within a limited amount of time. The state’s “predevelopment time” is 15 months behind Texas, on average, the analysis found.
The advice also included speeding up construction timelines and weighing environmental and labor requirements, as ways to help reduce costs.
Legislators moved bills forward Tuesday that were meant to speed up housing production and several lawmakers have announced they want to take action on more.
Ward said he hoped the report would “help people recognize the stakes” of state policies.
WHAT’S CONFIDENTIAL?
Groups representing police officers and California State University teachers say they want the same thing: Greater certainty that they can talk to their union representatives without fear of retaliation.
They argue Assembly Bill 340 would provide that. If passed as is, the measure would prevent public employers from questioning their workers about conversations they have with union leaders and from forcing employees to share what was said during those discussions.
Benjamin Therriault, a Richmond Police Department sergeant and union president, said the measure could have been helpful a few years ago during an internal investigation. Therriault said he witnessed one interview, and heard about others, where investigators asked if officers had spoken to their union representative.
“That line of questioning to me was improper,” said Therriault, who is also a vice president of the board of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, a supporter of the bill. The group says on its website that it represents more than 80,000 public safety workers.
In 2018, the Public Employment Relations Board found that a Southern California school district violated state law when a union steward was interrogated about whether employees had complained to her.
Patrick Ahrens, D-Sunnyvale, said the goal of his measure is to put a guarantee into state law.
“This is a very simple worker protection bill.”
Its many opponents, including organizations representing cities and counties and school leaders, wrote a letter to Ahrens arguing otherwise.
“In order to conduct proper investigations that uphold the public’s trust, protect against the misuse of public funds, and ensure the safety and well-being of both public employees and the public at large, it is critical that a public employer has the ability to interview all individuals with relevant information to ascertain the facts and understand the matter fully,” the letter said.
Dorothy Johnson, a legislative advocate for the Association of California School Administrators, said during a hearing last month that the organization is concerned the bill will “leave bad actors on our schools sites for longer.”
The protection the measure currently provides does not apply in criminal investigations.
David Mastagni, an attorney who represents the state police officer association on legal matters and at legislative hearings, said the goal of the bill isn’t to impair investigations.
“The union and their members ought to be able to communicate.”
The bill is waiting a hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
MORE HONORS FOR CHAVEZ
Via David Lightman ...
The Cesar Chavez and the Farmworker Movement National Historical Park could soon honor the work and legacy of the labor and civil rights leader.
California lawmakers have introduced legislation to create the park in parts of the state and Arizona. They say it would “preserve the nationally significant sites associated with Cesar E. Chavez and the farm worker movement across California and Arizona.”
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., introduced the legislation in the Senate.
“His example of defending workers’ rights across the country serves as a blueprint for overcoming some of our nation’s biggest challenges, demonstrating the immense power behind organized movements fighting against injustice,” Padilla said in a statement.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., joined Padilla on the bill, saying Chavez “paved the way for better wages and working conditions for millions of farm workers.”
In the House, Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, said that “having grown up as the son of farm workers in the Coachella Valley, I remember the profound hope Cesar Chavez instilled in our communities and farm workers across the nation.”
The bill would establish the park, which would include the current Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, which includes La Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz, in Keene.
The park would also include The Forty Acres in Delano; the Santa Rita Center in Phoenix; and McDonnell Hall in San Jose.
The bill would also authorize a National Historic Trail Study for the “Farmworker Peregrinación National Historic Trail,” the 300-mile march route taken by farm workers between Delano and Sacramento in 1966.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Even Gov. Gavin Newsom, considered one of the most pro-LGBTQ governors in our state’s history, said recently, ‘It’s an issue of fairness. It’s deeply unfair.’”
- Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, R-Rancho Santa Margarita, during a hearing on bills related to transgender athletes. Both were blocked from moving forward.
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‘Just glad they’re here’: Athletics fans share feelings on home opener in West Sacramento, via Marcus D. Smith
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This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 4:55 AM.
