SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Six months after they promised to focus on California’s cost of living and affordability problems, California’s legislative leaders still don’t have a concrete plan to tackle the issue.
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California lawmakers this week face the first major bill deadline of the year known as “House of Origin” on Friday. The deadline means proposed laws written in the State Assembly must pass out of the Assembly, and laws written in the State Senate must get out of the Senate by the end of this week.
Beginning next week, the Senate will begin considering the Assembly’s ideas and vice versa.
Friday’s deadline marks the halfway point of California’s lawmaking process. Of the 697 bills the Legislature needs to get through this week, nine of them are related to affordability and have been promoted by Democratic leaders in the Senate or Assembly as ways to tackle the issue. Most of the proposals are related to housing, while one attempts to address the high cost of utilities, another requires affordable internet plans, and others address wage theft.
While Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire have separate ideas to tackle the issue, the two have yet to announce an agreement or cohesive plan that they’ll try to pass to provide relief to Californians.
When KCRA 3 asked if they were close to a deal, the two sent a joint statement that did not answer the question but blasted Republicans instead.
“California Democrats are delivering for workers and families in the face of Trump’s assault on affordability through tariffs, the gutting of 800,000 middle class jobs and threats to our ports, tourism and retail sectors, hospitals and clinics, and funding that supports students and innovation at our colleges and universities,” Rivas and McGuire said. “Meanwhile, California Republicans are spending this week on gimmicks and half-baked proposals that make everyday life more expensive.”
Some bills to tackle the high cost of housing have already passed the halfway point of the lawmaking process; one in particular already has the governor’s support. Assembly Bill 609, which has already passed the Assembly, would exempt new housing in urban areas from the state’s environmental law known as the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This would shield the projects from costly and time-consuming lawsuits.
But it’s not clear if AB 609 has enough support in the State Senate. A similar measure in the State Senate, Senate Bill 607, is expected to be voted on in the Senate this week. While that measure also has support from the governor, it’s not clear if it has support in the Assembly.
Aside from housing, it’s also not clear how the Legislature will move forward to address the cost of fuel and food.
“At this time, we don’t see anything that’s going to move grocery prices in the right direction,” said Daniel Conway, the Vice President of Government Relations for the California Grocers Association.
“Newsom remains oblivious to the fact that we are a materialistic society dependent on the more than 6,000 products made from fossil fuels. Newsom continues to believe that the elimination of gasoline, just “1” of the 6,000 products, with his upcoming ban on new ICE vehicles in the coming years, will clean up California. Unable to stop society’s demand for the other 5,999 products, his war against fossil fuels has set up California, the 4th largest economy in the world, as a National Security Risk for America.”