California Gov. Gavin Newsom was in the East Bay on Tuesday to sign a stack of bills aimed at tackling the state’s housing crisis.
California is doing something no other state has ever done: spend an unprecedented $22 billion to build tens of thousands of new housing units.
Surrounded by a group of state lawmakers who authored some of the 31 affordable housing bills, Newsom said the state is cutting red tape and investing state dollars to build 84,000 new housing units. Newsom's plan will also give grants to low- to moderate-income homeowners who want to build accessory dwelling units on their land.
"We know that housing is not just a bricks and mortar issue," Assemblymember David Chiu, D-San Francisco, said. "Housing is about dignity. It's about jobs."
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Michael Johnson, president of Urban Core, a development company that builds mixed-income housing, said the legislation signed Tuesday will help fast-track a mixed-income housing project along Lake Merritt, set to begin construction next year.
"I think we’re on the verge of a process that will help to expedite and move projects along much faster than we have in the past," Johnson said.
The state's eviction moratorium ends later this week.
