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Creating more affordable housing for California renters is one of the biggest tests facing our state. As your Lieutenant Governor, I’ll be committed to finding and helping to enact solutions to this generational housing crisis.

But what I won’t support is any bill that makes the situation even worse. That is why I am opposing SB 827. 

Everyone knows we need to see more affordable housing built across our state. But instead of doing that, SB 827 enables developers to build enormous apartment buildings, enriching landowners while offering zero guarantee that the units will be affordable to working people. 

From San Francisco to Los Angeles, vocal opposition to this bill is growing, and for good reason. Everyone knows we need to see more affordable housing built across our state. But instead of doing that, SB 827 enables developers to build enormous apartment buildings, increasing density and transforming our urban landscape while offering zero guarantee that the units will be affordable to working people. 

It’s the trickle down theory of housing development – that if more luxury apartments get built, eventually more housing will become available to low and middle income renters as well. But like trickle down economics, this is just a lie. I’m not buying it and neither is the growing coalition of community groups and cities across our state that stand opposed to the legislation. 

I absolutely support the idea of building more housing around public transit. In the City of Richmond, where I was Mayor, we did precisely that and built around Richmond BART in our downtown which succeeded in getting more people out of their cars. More development is also planned in downtown which will spur economic development in the area. Richmond could provide a model for other cities to follow, provided that new housing includes a significant amount of below market rate housing, especially low-income and very low-income housing, and also includes protections that prevent displacement. 

But SB 827 doesn’t do that. Fact is, this bill does more harm than good. Beyond failing to solve the affordability crisis, it also takes decision-making power away from our cities and centralizes it in the Capitol. Big corporations know they can get away with profiting from – but not improving – our communities when they have state law on their side. We can’t let this happen. 

Stand with me, ACCE, and community organizers across California in saying no to SB 827, no to displacement and no to developer greed. It’s time to start over with a bill that values the working people of our cities