On Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., four of the Seven Bad Bills of 2021, listed in order here under the heading "Show List," will be voted on by the Assembly Housing Committee: SB 8, SB 9, SB 10 and SB 478.

Call in on Tuesday (here’s how to call in) to oppose these Four Bad Bills. We’ll send short alerts to you next week, once the Housing Committee provides A PHONE NUMBER to call. So watch this space!

On Monday, call the Housing Committee members a day ahead of the hearing! Ask them to Vote No on SB 8, SB 9, SB 10 and SB 478. Tell them you support: SB 15 by Anthony Portantino, a rare effort from luxury-housing obsessed Sacramento, to create actual affordable housing. SB 15 is not yet before an Assembly committee.

Call the Assembly Housing Committee members on Monday:

David Chiu (Chair) (916) 319-2017

Kelly Seyarto (Vice Chair) (916) 319-2067

Jesse Gabriel (916) 319-2045

Ash Kalra (916) 319-2027

Kevin Kiley (916) 319-2006

Brian Maienschein (916) 319-2077

Sharon Quirk-Silva (916) 319-2065

Buffy Wicks (916) 319-2015

While SB 8 seeks to extend the sunset year of an existing bad law we oppose, the other three bills will slam your area with dense new luxury housing and NOT ONE affordable unit! The bills are: SB 9 (Atkins), SB 10 (Wiener) and SB 478 (Wiener):

SB 9, the divisive anti-homeownership bill, ends single-family zoning to create dense luxury projects with NO affordable units. Lets investors buy up any of California’s 7M homes to build 6 units with no yard, no garage. On streets like yours.

Facing opposition by equity groups including A. Urban League and Housing is a Human Right, the authors say SB 9 won’t hurt renters because homes that were rented in recent years can’t be demolished. Who will find this elusive rental data? The developers? No. Nobody will find it. Renters are NOT protected.
SB 9 targets Black and Latino homeowner areas located too close to downtown or freeways to survive SB 9, like these 36 homeowner communities of color in Greater L.A. Some SB 9 authors represent NO Black or Latino homeowner areas, yet their bill harms these communities of color.
SB 9 is a two-step bill with big, gaping loopholes. It allows 6 units where 1 home stands now. The authors wrongly insist the limit is 4 units. We agree with the respected Daniel Carrigg of Renne Public Policy Group, that 6 or even 8 units can slip between SB 9’s loopholes.
Under SB 9, we expect pension funds and rental giants to bid against home buyers, so they can build dense 4-unit to 6-unit rentals where 1 home stands now. This reckless developer bill destabilizes homeownership in California.
Watch a quick SB 9 Video HERE!

SB 10 is SB 9’s awful twin, allowing 14 luxury units almost everywhere.

SB 10 lets city councils approve sweeping ordinances giving developers “by right” powers to erect 14-unit luxury buildings on thousands of streets like yours.
In SB 10, “urban infill” means 14 luxury units can be built on any parcel, occupied or not, that isn’t surrounded by agriculture or industry, in cities or suburbs. “Urban infill” once meant abandoned lots in clear need of help.
Wiener’s claim that SB 10 allows 10 units? Untrue. By adding ADUs and Junior ADUs (granny flats), each luxury project can have 14 luxury units.
Under SB 10, any city council can undo any voter-approved initiative to protect open space, urban boundaries or any other voter land protection that stops developers from paving it over. Thus far, Livable has found 28 such voter approvals that could be overturned by city councils if SB 10 becomes law.

SB 478, the “One-Bedrooms YOU Can’t Afford” bill.

SB 478 is like SB 9 and SB 10 in that it creates ONLY luxury housing. It goes after existing low-density apartments, destroying affordable rentals to build pricey singles for the techies. Not long ago, this practice was rightly condemned as “urban renewal.”

A developer can build 14 units — 10 plus 2 ADUs and 2 JADUs (granny flats) — on any multifamily or mixed-use street. Cities are banned from requiring yards that prevent a density of “1.25 FAR.” (Floor Area Ratio is wonky but it means on a typical 5K square foot lot, developers could build a two-story, 6,250 sq. ft. luxury studio project. Or twice as many studios on 10,000 sq. ft. lot).
L.A.’s “small lot subdivision” law is a cautionary example. Los Angeles city leaders said these projects would lower housing prices. But L.A.’s small lot subdivision law instead spurs destruction of existing affordable housing to produce $1M to $2M condos — often separated by inches of air space. SB 478 is a cousin to L.A.’s badly backfiring non-affordability law.