Former Fox News host launches proposed 2024 ballot measure to fix California's housing crisis

San Francisco Chronicle / 9-6-23

Former Fox News host Steve Hilton (“The Next Revolution”), a Bay Area resident, is championing a proposed ballot measure aimed at encouraging more housing construction.

It is called the California Homeownership Affordability Act, and the proposal aimed at the November 2024 ballot seeks to spur the creation of more housing in two ways that on the surface have wide appeal.

The first change is aimed at doing what former Gov. Jerry Brown once called, “the Lord’s work” — reforming the California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA. The landmark 1970 law signed by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan requires public agencies and local governments to study the significant environmental impacts of a building project before approving it.

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The second part of the measure proposes to cap the impact fees that can be charged to developers. After California voters passed Proposition 13 in 1978, some municipalities turned to increasing fees on new developments to help fund local services like utilities, schools, parks, transit — and even arts. Cities around the country charge similar fees, but a 2019 study from the Terner Center for Housing and Innovation at UC Berkeley found that California’s fees “are especially high,” and “up to a third of some California cities’ budgets are composed of development-related fees.”

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A third part of the initiative would create a revolving fund that could provide down-payment loans to experienced construction workers so they could purchase a home in the state. California, like many places around the country, faces a shortage of experienced construction workers. Oddly enough, given the previous provision in this initiative, the loan fund would be funded by a $300 developer fee on every new home built and $50 on every new rental unit constructed. The program would be administered by the California Housing Finance Authority.

Link (paywall): https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/steve-hilton-ballot-measure-18348202.php

Summary (highlights from the link):

• Developers get a tight cap on fees and a major restriction on who can file CEQA lawsuits aimed at their projects. They get that in exchange for paying $300 for every new home built, which will also will benefit them because it may help stabilize their workforce.

• Opponents will likely target this as a developer giveaway.

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According to the link, "only district attorneys or the state attorney general could invoke CEQA when filing suit to stop a proposed housing project."

Wow—what a major opportunity for backroom deals and graft.

At the very least, maybe CEQA could be tweaked to close the most absurd loopholes. But do not disempower Californians.

I've never heard of Steve Hilton nor ever watched his show. From Wikipedia: