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"slug": "what-is-the-california-legislature-doing-about-homelessness-this-year-here-are-the-bills-to-watch",
"title": "What Is the California Legislature Doing About Homelessness This Year? Here Are the Bills to Watch",
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"headTitle": "What Is the California Legislature Doing About Homelessness This Year? Here Are the Bills to Watch | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As this year’s legislative session speeds to a close, a handful of bills focused on the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/homelessness\">homelessness\u003c/a> crisis have made the cut so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though homelessness improved slightly last year, there are still an \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2026/05/point-in-time-homelessness-report/\">estimated 182,000\u003c/a> Californians with nowhere to call home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The issue is top of mind for many lawmakers in Sacramento, who are pushing a range of laws that would do everything from free up state funds for sober housing, dispose of RVs on city streets and create a plan for homelessness prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are a few of the bills to watch as they approach their final votes and await a potential signature from the governor:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>State-funded sober homeless housing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom hit \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/matt-haney-165453\">Assemblymember Matt Haney\u003c/a> with a surprise veto last year, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/10/newsom-ab-255-veto/\">blocking his bill\u003c/a> that would have allowed state funding to pay for sober homeless housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haney is back with a similar bill, which he says will give people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction the choice to live in an environment free from dangerous temptations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people who are on the street right now or exiting shelter programs would prefer drug-free housing options,” the San Francisco Democrat said. “And right now there are few options, if any, for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027566\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027566\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Matt Haney speaks during a press conference announcing legislation to increase nightlife in Downtown San Francisco to help the recovery of the neighborhood, in Union Square, San Francisco, on Feb. 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, Assembly Bill 255 would have allowed cities and counties to spend up to 10% of their state funding on “recovery housing” where people are required to stay sober. That was a tweak to California’s “housing first” strategy, which emphasizes a no-strings-attached approach to housing and generally frowns on barriers that require people to stay clean or participate in treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his veto message, Newsom said the state already allows the state to fund sober housing. His office pointed to a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/11/sober-housing-ca-texas/\">new set of guidelines\u003c/a> on the subject, published online the day after Newsom’s veto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Haney says that guidance is unclear, and housing providers still believe state funds are off-limits for sober housing. The proof: Haney said that as far as he knows, no one has used state funds to pay for sober housing since the governor’s veto last year.[aside postID=news_12088488 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240801-ENCAMPMENT-SWEEPS-MD-02-KQED.jpg?ver=1722631109']His new bill, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1556\">Assembly bill 1556\u003c/a>, lays out the rules a sober housing provider must follow to be eligible for state funding. Each provider must have a policy to handle relapses, which is supposed to help the resident get sober again, but also can include evicting them if they continue to use alcohol or drugs and do not follow the policy. That worries critics, including Sharon Rapport, director of California state policy for the Corporation for Supportive Housing, who fears it could put people back on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike last year’s bill, AB 1556 doesn’t limit the amount of state money that could go to sober housing. The bill comes with no additional funding, meaning the more money that goes to sober housing, the less will be left for the low-barrier housing needed for people who aren’t ready to overcome their addiction, Rapport said. That’s even more worrying because the Trump administration also is prioritizing sober housing for federal funds – creating an even bigger gap in low-barrier housing, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t really want to see Trump policy implemented in California at the state level,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, Haney is expecting a more positive reaction from Newsom. “The governor’s office has been very collaborative and responsive from the beginning this time around,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Solutions to homelessness\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Most people in California \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/californians-concern-about-homelessness-has-softened/\">agree that homelessness\u003c/a> is a problem. But exactly how much would it cost to solve it? And how could California get there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out, the state has never actually done that math publicly. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1165\">Assembly Bill 1165\u003c/a> would force the state to do just that. The bill by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/mike-gipson-28\">Assemblymember Mike Gipson\u003c/a>, a Gardena Democrat, would require the California Department of Housing and Community Development to create a financial plan to solve homelessness, as well as performance metrics for success, by January 2028.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That would include determining how much money the state would need to meet the housing needs of everyone who is homeless now or expected to become homeless in the future, and how the state could achieve that goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072189\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072189\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Department of Public Works employees clean up debris after a sweep of an encampment on Merlin Street in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood on Jan. 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The state has estimated California must plan for 2.5 million homes over the next eight years to meet demand and ease the state’s affordable housing shortage. AB 1165 would require the state to go into more detail about what resources are needed, and lay out a plan to meet that goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Corporation for Supportive Housing \u003ca href=\"https://calneeds.csh.org/\">estimates\u003c/a> it would take $8.1 billion a year for 12 years to solve homelessness. The \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-budget-legislature-deal/\">budget\u003c/a> the legislature proposed this month includes $900 million for Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention funds – the state’s main source of homeless funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it passes, AB 1165 could help hold legislators and the next governor accountable and push the state to spend its homelessness funds more wisely, Rapport said. A \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/california-homelessness-spending/\">2024 audit\u003c/a> found the state failed to track its homelessness spending or measure results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill doesn’t come with new resources to fight homelessness, meaning implementing a plan to end homelessness could be tough in the current tight budget environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another measure, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1924\">Assembly Bill 1924\u003c/a>, would require the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to establish a statewide strategy to prevent homelessness before it happens. If passed, the plan would need to be in place by July 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prevention has become an increasingly \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2026/03/homelessness-prevention-pilot/\">popular way to tackle homelessness\u003c/a>, as it’s much easier and cheaper to help someone hold onto their housing than it is to re-house them once they wind up on the streets. Organizations already using this strategy have found that giving someone several thousand dollars can allow them to avoid homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like AB 1165, the prevention bill also comes with no new funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Forcing cities to report homelessness and housing data\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>How much data on homelessness should California cities that aren’t getting state funds be required to report to the state? That’s the question behind a bill by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb866\">Senator Catherine Blakespear\u003c/a>, which has received pushback from some of her colleagues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Counties, continuums of care (regional groups that coordinate homelessness services) and the 14 largest cities \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/05/13/governor-newsom-delivers-760-million-in-hhap-funding-to-support-communities-efforts-in-reducing-homelessness/\">are eligible\u003c/a> for money from the state’s Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention program. In exchange for the funds, those entities must report certain data about their homeless populations, the services they offer, and the progress they’ve made getting people off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas, wants the rest of California’s cities, even if they get no funding, to report that data, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072191\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072191\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-13-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-13-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-13-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-13-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teesha Baldree (left) and Jacob Miles go through their belongings after moving from Merlin Street to nearby Fifth Street in San Francisco on Jan. 27, 2026, following a scheduled encampment sweep. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Homelessness is a regional problem that does not stop at city or county boundaries,” she said during a recent Senate floor hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb866\">Senate Bill 866\u003c/a> alarmed some city leaders, who complained they don’t have the staff or money to compile that extensive amount of data. Dozens of cities oppose the bill, as does the League of California Cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a concession, Blakespear agreed to exempt all cities with 50,000 or fewer people – eliminating about half of California’s cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that wasn’t enough to appease some of her colleagues, including \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/marie-alvarado-gil-165433\">Republican Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil\u003c/a> from Modesto, who called the bill an un-funded mandate for cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have to ask,” she said, “if we have this level of opposition, not just from rural communities, not just from Republican-represented communities, but from cities across the state, why do we have a half-cooked bill on this Legislature’s floor?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>No arrest warrants for people who miss court dates\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2122\">Assembly Bill 2122\u003c/a> doesn’t specifically mention unhoused Californians, but advocates say it would have big implications for people who sleep outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities around California are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/06/homelessness-enforcement-data/\">cracking down\u003c/a> on street homelessness, leading to increasing numbers of arrests and citations in some places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People are ticketed for unauthorized camping, but they can also be cited for other offenses such as loitering, trespassing, public urination, violating park rules, and more. Typically, the police hand them a paper citation that says when they are supposed to show up in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072181\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072181\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Felony, a Chihuahua-poodle mix, stands on a leash beside owner Kali Donlin outside the Gubbio Project at St. John’s the Evangelist Episcopal Church on Feb. 2, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s common for unhoused people to miss those court dates – they may lack transportation, be unable to leave their belongings or pets unattended, or simply lose track of the date amid the unpredictability of life on the street. When that happens, the court issues a bench warrant for their arrest. The next time they encounter the police, they could go to jail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only does that cost the city money, but it also could make it harder for the person to get housing, Rapport said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly Bill 2122, by Assemblymembers \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/ash-kalra-100938\">Ash Kalra\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/josh-lowenthal-164206\">Josh Lowenthal\u003c/a>, would change that. If someone is cited for an infraction (which could include loitering or other minor offenses) and then misses their court date, they could not be jailed as a result. It would also prohibit courts from issuing arrest warrants for people who fail to pay traffic tickets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill applies only to infractions. Different cities classify crimes differently – in some places, an offense such as loitering might be an infraction, while in other places it could be a misdemeanor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California State Sheriffs’ Association is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2122\">opposed to the bill\u003c/a>, and says it sends the message that it’s acceptable to fail to appear in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>RVs on city streets\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As unhoused Californians increasingly turn to vehicles for shelter, multiple legislators have \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/09/homeless-enforcement-cars-rvs/\">turned their attention to addressing\u003c/a> the resulting rows of RVs, trailers and lived-in cars lining streets up and down the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/mark-gonzalez-187427\">Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez\u003c/a>, a Los Angeles Democrat, pushed through \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab630\">a bill\u003c/a> intended to make it easier for local governments to dispose of inoperable RVs parked on their streets. The goal was to address vehicles that create blight in neighborhoods and are breeding grounds for bad behavior, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He ended up amending the bill to apply only in Los Angeles and Alameda counties. But by making that change, Gonzalez inadvertently made the law basically unusable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077867\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077867\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/01212026-BOBRVTOW-ET-PU-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1317\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/01212026-BOBRVTOW-ET-PU-29.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/01212026-BOBRVTOW-ET-PU-29-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/01212026-BOBRVTOW-ET-PU-29-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bob Kauffman, 70, closes the blinds to his RV in San Francisco, Calif., on Jan. 21, 2026. Kauffman has been towed three times since the city’s Large Vehicle Refuge Permit Program, and has been navigating new parking restrictions that aim to eliminate RVs in the city. Since his RV is inoperable, he’s had to pay $700 to tow it out of the city’s tow-yard, and paying $107 in San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority fees. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While the counties of Alameda and Los Angeles themselves could use the law to dispose of RVs, the cities within them could not. The Los Angeles City Council found that out the hard way, when it voted to establish an RV disposal program, only to have it \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-02-22/la-wanted-to-dismantle-homeless-rvs-judge-just-shut-that-down\">shot down\u003c/a> in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab647\">Assembly Bill 647\u003c/a> fixes that oversight by allowing cities within those two counties to destroy RVs valued at $4,000 or less. Opponents worry the bill will lead local governments to seize more lived-in RVs, forcing people out of the relative safety of a vehicle and onto the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2026/06/legislature-homelessness-bills-2026/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Bills moving through the Legislature this year address state-funded sober housing, RVs parked on city streets and homelessness prevention.",
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"title": "What Is the California Legislature Doing About Homelessness This Year? Here Are the Bills to Watch | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As this year’s legislative session speeds to a close, a handful of bills focused on the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/homelessness\">homelessness\u003c/a> crisis have made the cut so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though homelessness improved slightly last year, there are still an \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2026/05/point-in-time-homelessness-report/\">estimated 182,000\u003c/a> Californians with nowhere to call home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The issue is top of mind for many lawmakers in Sacramento, who are pushing a range of laws that would do everything from free up state funds for sober housing, dispose of RVs on city streets and create a plan for homelessness prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are a few of the bills to watch as they approach their final votes and await a potential signature from the governor:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>State-funded sober homeless housing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom hit \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/matt-haney-165453\">Assemblymember Matt Haney\u003c/a> with a surprise veto last year, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/10/newsom-ab-255-veto/\">blocking his bill\u003c/a> that would have allowed state funding to pay for sober homeless housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haney is back with a similar bill, which he says will give people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction the choice to live in an environment free from dangerous temptations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people who are on the street right now or exiting shelter programs would prefer drug-free housing options,” the San Francisco Democrat said. “And right now there are few options, if any, for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027566\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027566\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Matt Haney speaks during a press conference announcing legislation to increase nightlife in Downtown San Francisco to help the recovery of the neighborhood, in Union Square, San Francisco, on Feb. 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, Assembly Bill 255 would have allowed cities and counties to spend up to 10% of their state funding on “recovery housing” where people are required to stay sober. That was a tweak to California’s “housing first” strategy, which emphasizes a no-strings-attached approach to housing and generally frowns on barriers that require people to stay clean or participate in treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his veto message, Newsom said the state already allows the state to fund sober housing. His office pointed to a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/11/sober-housing-ca-texas/\">new set of guidelines\u003c/a> on the subject, published online the day after Newsom’s veto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Haney says that guidance is unclear, and housing providers still believe state funds are off-limits for sober housing. The proof: Haney said that as far as he knows, no one has used state funds to pay for sober housing since the governor’s veto last year.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>His new bill, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1556\">Assembly bill 1556\u003c/a>, lays out the rules a sober housing provider must follow to be eligible for state funding. Each provider must have a policy to handle relapses, which is supposed to help the resident get sober again, but also can include evicting them if they continue to use alcohol or drugs and do not follow the policy. That worries critics, including Sharon Rapport, director of California state policy for the Corporation for Supportive Housing, who fears it could put people back on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike last year’s bill, AB 1556 doesn’t limit the amount of state money that could go to sober housing. The bill comes with no additional funding, meaning the more money that goes to sober housing, the less will be left for the low-barrier housing needed for people who aren’t ready to overcome their addiction, Rapport said. That’s even more worrying because the Trump administration also is prioritizing sober housing for federal funds – creating an even bigger gap in low-barrier housing, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t really want to see Trump policy implemented in California at the state level,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, Haney is expecting a more positive reaction from Newsom. “The governor’s office has been very collaborative and responsive from the beginning this time around,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Solutions to homelessness\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Most people in California \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/californians-concern-about-homelessness-has-softened/\">agree that homelessness\u003c/a> is a problem. But exactly how much would it cost to solve it? And how could California get there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out, the state has never actually done that math publicly. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1165\">Assembly Bill 1165\u003c/a> would force the state to do just that. The bill by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/mike-gipson-28\">Assemblymember Mike Gipson\u003c/a>, a Gardena Democrat, would require the California Department of Housing and Community Development to create a financial plan to solve homelessness, as well as performance metrics for success, by January 2028.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That would include determining how much money the state would need to meet the housing needs of everyone who is homeless now or expected to become homeless in the future, and how the state could achieve that goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072189\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072189\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Department of Public Works employees clean up debris after a sweep of an encampment on Merlin Street in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood on Jan. 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The state has estimated California must plan for 2.5 million homes over the next eight years to meet demand and ease the state’s affordable housing shortage. AB 1165 would require the state to go into more detail about what resources are needed, and lay out a plan to meet that goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Corporation for Supportive Housing \u003ca href=\"https://calneeds.csh.org/\">estimates\u003c/a> it would take $8.1 billion a year for 12 years to solve homelessness. The \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-budget-legislature-deal/\">budget\u003c/a> the legislature proposed this month includes $900 million for Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention funds – the state’s main source of homeless funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it passes, AB 1165 could help hold legislators and the next governor accountable and push the state to spend its homelessness funds more wisely, Rapport said. A \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/california-homelessness-spending/\">2024 audit\u003c/a> found the state failed to track its homelessness spending or measure results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill doesn’t come with new resources to fight homelessness, meaning implementing a plan to end homelessness could be tough in the current tight budget environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another measure, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1924\">Assembly Bill 1924\u003c/a>, would require the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to establish a statewide strategy to prevent homelessness before it happens. If passed, the plan would need to be in place by July 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prevention has become an increasingly \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2026/03/homelessness-prevention-pilot/\">popular way to tackle homelessness\u003c/a>, as it’s much easier and cheaper to help someone hold onto their housing than it is to re-house them once they wind up on the streets. Organizations already using this strategy have found that giving someone several thousand dollars can allow them to avoid homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like AB 1165, the prevention bill also comes with no new funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Forcing cities to report homelessness and housing data\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>How much data on homelessness should California cities that aren’t getting state funds be required to report to the state? That’s the question behind a bill by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb866\">Senator Catherine Blakespear\u003c/a>, which has received pushback from some of her colleagues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Counties, continuums of care (regional groups that coordinate homelessness services) and the 14 largest cities \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/05/13/governor-newsom-delivers-760-million-in-hhap-funding-to-support-communities-efforts-in-reducing-homelessness/\">are eligible\u003c/a> for money from the state’s Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention program. In exchange for the funds, those entities must report certain data about their homeless populations, the services they offer, and the progress they’ve made getting people off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas, wants the rest of California’s cities, even if they get no funding, to report that data, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072191\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072191\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-13-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-13-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-13-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-13-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teesha Baldree (left) and Jacob Miles go through their belongings after moving from Merlin Street to nearby Fifth Street in San Francisco on Jan. 27, 2026, following a scheduled encampment sweep. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Homelessness is a regional problem that does not stop at city or county boundaries,” she said during a recent Senate floor hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb866\">Senate Bill 866\u003c/a> alarmed some city leaders, who complained they don’t have the staff or money to compile that extensive amount of data. Dozens of cities oppose the bill, as does the League of California Cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a concession, Blakespear agreed to exempt all cities with 50,000 or fewer people – eliminating about half of California’s cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that wasn’t enough to appease some of her colleagues, including \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/marie-alvarado-gil-165433\">Republican Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil\u003c/a> from Modesto, who called the bill an un-funded mandate for cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have to ask,” she said, “if we have this level of opposition, not just from rural communities, not just from Republican-represented communities, but from cities across the state, why do we have a half-cooked bill on this Legislature’s floor?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>No arrest warrants for people who miss court dates\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2122\">Assembly Bill 2122\u003c/a> doesn’t specifically mention unhoused Californians, but advocates say it would have big implications for people who sleep outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities around California are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/06/homelessness-enforcement-data/\">cracking down\u003c/a> on street homelessness, leading to increasing numbers of arrests and citations in some places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People are ticketed for unauthorized camping, but they can also be cited for other offenses such as loitering, trespassing, public urination, violating park rules, and more. Typically, the police hand them a paper citation that says when they are supposed to show up in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072181\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072181\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Felony, a Chihuahua-poodle mix, stands on a leash beside owner Kali Donlin outside the Gubbio Project at St. John’s the Evangelist Episcopal Church on Feb. 2, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s common for unhoused people to miss those court dates – they may lack transportation, be unable to leave their belongings or pets unattended, or simply lose track of the date amid the unpredictability of life on the street. When that happens, the court issues a bench warrant for their arrest. The next time they encounter the police, they could go to jail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only does that cost the city money, but it also could make it harder for the person to get housing, Rapport said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly Bill 2122, by Assemblymembers \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/ash-kalra-100938\">Ash Kalra\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/josh-lowenthal-164206\">Josh Lowenthal\u003c/a>, would change that. If someone is cited for an infraction (which could include loitering or other minor offenses) and then misses their court date, they could not be jailed as a result. It would also prohibit courts from issuing arrest warrants for people who fail to pay traffic tickets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill applies only to infractions. Different cities classify crimes differently – in some places, an offense such as loitering might be an infraction, while in other places it could be a misdemeanor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California State Sheriffs’ Association is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2122\">opposed to the bill\u003c/a>, and says it sends the message that it’s acceptable to fail to appear in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>RVs on city streets\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As unhoused Californians increasingly turn to vehicles for shelter, multiple legislators have \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/09/homeless-enforcement-cars-rvs/\">turned their attention to addressing\u003c/a> the resulting rows of RVs, trailers and lived-in cars lining streets up and down the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/mark-gonzalez-187427\">Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez\u003c/a>, a Los Angeles Democrat, pushed through \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab630\">a bill\u003c/a> intended to make it easier for local governments to dispose of inoperable RVs parked on their streets. The goal was to address vehicles that create blight in neighborhoods and are breeding grounds for bad behavior, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He ended up amending the bill to apply only in Los Angeles and Alameda counties. But by making that change, Gonzalez inadvertently made the law basically unusable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077867\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077867\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/01212026-BOBRVTOW-ET-PU-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1317\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/01212026-BOBRVTOW-ET-PU-29.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/01212026-BOBRVTOW-ET-PU-29-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/01212026-BOBRVTOW-ET-PU-29-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bob Kauffman, 70, closes the blinds to his RV in San Francisco, Calif., on Jan. 21, 2026. Kauffman has been towed three times since the city’s Large Vehicle Refuge Permit Program, and has been navigating new parking restrictions that aim to eliminate RVs in the city. Since his RV is inoperable, he’s had to pay $700 to tow it out of the city’s tow-yard, and paying $107 in San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority fees. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While the counties of Alameda and Los Angeles themselves could use the law to dispose of RVs, the cities within them could not. The Los Angeles City Council found that out the hard way, when it voted to establish an RV disposal program, only to have it \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-02-22/la-wanted-to-dismantle-homeless-rvs-judge-just-shut-that-down\">shot down\u003c/a> in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab647\">Assembly Bill 647\u003c/a> fixes that oversight by allowing cities within those two counties to destroy RVs valued at $4,000 or less. Opponents worry the bill will lead local governments to seize more lived-in RVs, forcing people out of the relative safety of a vehicle and onto the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2026/06/legislature-homelessness-bills-2026/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "tech-billionaires-hire-democratic-dealmakers-in-renewed-push-to-build-a-bay-area-city",
"title": "Tech Billionaires Hire Democratic Dealmakers in Renewed Push to Build a Bay Area City",
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"headTitle": "Tech Billionaires Hire Democratic Dealmakers in Renewed Push to Build a Bay Area City | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-forever\">California Forever,\u003c/a> the tech billionaire-backed group that hopes to build a city from scratch on farmland in the outer San Francisco Bay Area, is lobbying state leaders to fast-track a massive shipbuilding deal that would kick-start its development after years of local opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The billionaires behind the project are seeking a deal to expedite environmental reviews of the development and, if necessary, bypass county restrictions on building by being absorbed into Suisun City boundaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve hired former Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and former Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg — Democratic architects of landmark environmental laws — to make their case, and are using the prospect of luring a major shipbuilder to California to accelerate the dealmaking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Forever has pursued its project for nearly a decade, though the vision has shifted: At first pitched as a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2024/02/california-forever-promises/\">walkable city\u003c/a> with cottages, bike lanes and even a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/heres-what-a-proposed-california-forever-lagoon-would-look-like/\">water park\u003c/a>, the plan then added a major shipbuilding operation and, last summer, a significant \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailyrepublic.com/business/solano-business/california-forever-marries-new-manufacturing-park-to-travis-shipbuilding-east-solano/article_bfd6f346-0ee7-4492-a08a-b4339439b76b.html\">manufacturing hub\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Forever’s proponents, led by the state’s powerful building trades union along with realtors, peace officers and pro-housing groups, argue the latest proposal would boost the state’s economy and bring \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayareaeconomy.org/report/suisun-expansion-plan-and-solano-shipyard/\">an estimated\u003c/a> half a million jobs to California. And now, a prospective tenant has emerged: Defense company \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2026/04/09/saronic-technologies-california-forever-solano.html\">Saronic Technologies, Inc\u003c/a>., which builds autonomous vessels for use in national security, is deciding between California and Texas for its next factory. The state must fast-track the development or lose the deal, supporters argue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The developers are seeking the state’s permission to use an 18-year-old environmental impact report for the shipyard development, limit any legal challenges to the project to 270 days, and allow Suisun City to annex their land if needed, according to Steinberg and Hertzberg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067288\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067288\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-17-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-17-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-17-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-17-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The intersection of Highway 12 and Highway 113 in Solano County outside of Suisun City on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In short, if legislation is not approved, California will lose billions of dollars in investments and tens of thousands of jobs this summer to Texas and other states,” proponents \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailyrepublic.com/news/trades-labor-coalition-ask-state-leaders-to-pony-up-for-california-forever-projects/article_08128859-63cc-4861-b06c-2d3565dd27d3.html\">wrote in a joint letter\u003c/a> to Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some locals and lawmakers are skeptical, arguing that details about the project remain scarce. The proposed development would convert vast farmlands into factories and risk harming the surrounding ecosystem, they said, which deserves rigorous environmental review under the landmark California Environmental Quality Act that proponents are seeking to expedite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For a project this scale in this location, it is what the (law) was designed for,” said Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/christopher-cabaldon-5699\">Christopher Cabaldon\u003c/a>, a Napa Democrat who represents the area. “A central question for the people of Solano County is: Is this going to be for the community or is this a conversion project that leaves them behind?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents also slammed California Forever for pursuing relief behind closed doors with state leaders and circumventing local opposition. Since 2018, the group has secretly bought up agricultural land, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcn.org/articles/the-california-forever-debate-moves-underground/\">shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars\u003c/a> to court local residents and spent at least $330,000 lobbying the governor and legislative leaders for favorable legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think they know that the only way this actually happens is under cover of darkness, by trying to essentially get the governor to work this plan for them,” said Jordan Grimes, legislative director at Greenbelt Alliance, which has advocated for streamlined environmental reviews for housing projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Secretive beginnings foment distrust\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For residents of Solano County, an agricultural community on the outskirts of the Bay Area that includes coastal areas next to a deep-water shipping lane, the suspicion around California Forever has been hard to shake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group’s subsidiary, Flannery Associates, started buying up farmland in 2018, eventually acquiring 62,000 acres while routinely refusing to answer questions about its backers. Some farmers later alleged the company used strong-arm tactics to get them to sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/25/business/land-purchases-solano-county.html\">Flannery’s backers were unmasked\u003c/a> as a group of wealthy venture capitalists including the founders of LinkedIn and Netscape, all led by former Goldman Sachs trader and real estate developer Jan Sramek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12048452\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12048452\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Solano Foundry would be built next to homes within California Forever’s proposed mega-development and would provide space for defense tech, transportation, energy and other advanced manufacturing companies. The company’s announcement comes just a year after it pulled a ballot initiative to build a city from scratch in southeast Solano County. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California Forever)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Marc Andreessen, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, holds investments in both California Forever and Saronic, the defense company eyeing California. Andreessen’s firm did not immediately return a CalMatters inquiry for comment. Despite rocky beginnings, California Forever needed the majority of Solano County voters on its side due to a 1984 “orderly growth” law that requires voters to approve development on unincorporated land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2024, the company debuted the East Solano Plan to rezone 17,500 acres of agricultural land for a dense, 400,000-person city. The proposal was set to go before voters that year, but its backers pulled it following powerful grassroots opposition, \u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2024/04/08/opposition-groups-poll-shows-majority-reject-new-solano-county-city/?clearUserState=true\">poor polling\u003c/a> and a county assessment that found holes in the plan. Sramek \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook-pm/2024/07/29/how-california-forevers-ballot-initiative-failed-00171735\">acknowledged\u003c/a> the group likely moved too fast and said the initiative would go back before voters in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, the group has pivoted. The East Solano Plan has become the Suisun Expansion Plan and the Solano Shipyard. In January 2025, Suisun City’s city council directed its manager to explore expanding the city’s limits through annexation, which is now underway, although it could take years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The annexation and the ship building have been a clear way to work around the need for voter support in Solano County,” said Nate Huntington, a member of the grassroots group Solano Together, which formed in response to the secretive land purchases. Huntington pointed out that California Forever hasn’t even submitted a proposal for a shipbuilding facility to the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of this has been happening in backrooms of Sacramento, and it’s not been publicly available.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Seeking state environmental relief\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California Forever is now selling the development to the state as a major incentive to lure manufacturers and shipbuilders to California — and the subsequent need for housing to accommodate the promised jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company wants the governor and state lawmakers to cut red tape for the development and require enough housing for the new jobs. Steinberg and Hertzberg told CalMatters they are contemplating legislation to that end, but only after California Forever signs a lease with a manufacturer or shipbuilder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their plan would allow the governor to designate construction on company land as “environmental leadership development projects,” which would effectively require any litigation to be resolved within 270 days. Steinberg authored the state law streamlining that process in 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036285\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036285\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jan Sramek, CEO of California Forever, speaks during a town hall meeting in Rio Vista on Dec. 5, 2023, for the proposed California city backed by Silicon Valley investors on farmland in eastern Solano County. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://dot.ca.gov/programs/environmental-analysis/standard-environmental-reference-ser/volume-1-guidance-for-compliance/ch-36-environmental-impact-report\">State law\u003c/a> requires government agencies to prepare a report for any project that might have a significant impact on the environment. Instead of assessing the impact of the proposed shipyard, Steinberg and Hertzberg’s proposal would use a \u003ca href=\"https://content.solanocounty.gov/sites/default/files/2025-05/Solano%20County%20DEIR%20-%204-18-08.pdf\">2008 report\u003c/a>, which designated the area where the shipyard would go as “\u003ca href=\"https://baynature.org/2026/06/16/science-nature/bay/how-would-california-forevers-proposed-solano-shipyard-affect-the-environment-details-are-scant/\">water-dependent industrial usage\u003c/a>.” Most of California Forever’s \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/shipyard/\">7,500-acre\u003c/a> planned footprint does not have that designation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steinberg told CalMatters the report is sufficient since the site has changed little.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state and county need the ability to say yes now to these numerous opportunities,” he said in a text. A new report, he said, “would require years of additional delay and lost opportunities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the report is outdated, Cabaldon argues.[aside postID=news_12069959 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00333_qed.jpg']“This is completely different,” he said. “Just the notion that you would just say, ‘We are not going to do any assessments at all and we’ll just rely on this old one’ — that is not consistent with what the public interest is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steinberg and Hertzberg also want the state to require enough housing in the area, but to allow surrounding cities and Solano County to permit local housing developers to build first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if local governments aren’t willing to or cannot build enough housing within the timeline the manufacturer or the shipbuilder wants, Steinberg and Hertzberg’s proposal would allow Suisun City to annex adjacent California Forever-owned county land into its city boundaries — a controversial idea that has \u003ca href=\"https://www.vallejosun.com/activists-call-for-vote-on-california-forevers-suisun-city-expansion-plan/\">drawn fierce local opposition\u003c/a>. The move would be a “last resort,” Steinberg and Hertzberg stressed repeatedly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The annexation would effectively bypass the county’s orderly growth initiative, which requires voters to have a say in development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The shipbuilders and manufacturers need certainty on a much faster timeline,” Steinberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cabaldon said the pitch to build new housing to accommodate theoretical jobs is “fantastical,” noting that Saronic, the proposed ship-builder, is a leader in automation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no indication that this is going to generate on an ongoing basis that many jobs, and certainly not more jobs than we have housing for even today without building a single additional unit,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Historic union agreement prompts support\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In January, California Forever announced it had signed a 40-year deal with the Napa/Solano Building Trades Council and Northern California Carpenters Union to use union labor to build its development. The agreement was an important political alliance for CEO Sramek, bringing more influential advocates to the table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Digital Democracy, both the Building Trades Council and the Carpenters Union have given roughly $10 million in direct donations to legislative candidates since 2000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those advocates made themselves heard over the past few weeks, following a Texas county court \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2026/06/17/saronic-brownsville-port-alpha-california.html\">approving significant tax incentives\u003c/a> to lure Saronic to Brownsville. In a statement, Saronic said its nationwide search is still “active and ongoing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12052354\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12052354\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250804-CALIFORNIAFOREVERSUISUNCITY-53-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250804-CALIFORNIAFOREVERSUISUNCITY-53-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250804-CALIFORNIAFOREVERSUISUNCITY-53-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250804-CALIFORNIAFOREVERSUISUNCITY-53-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of the Suisun Slough in Suisun City, Solano County, on Aug. 4, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The California Alliance For Jobs, an alliance of influential construction companies and workers, drafted two letters in quick succession calling for legislative leaders to streamline the California Forever expansion and shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We champed at the bit to go all in to get this project moving, and to get legislation through Sacramento this session,” said Joshua Arce, executive director of the alliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suisun City Councilmember Princess Washington, who has consistently been the sole vote on the council against the annexation plan, said she feels organized labor is being used as “political pressure” to win approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Processes are slow, but they’re done that way through government to ensure that it’s being done correctly, that all parties of interest are being treated fairly, and there’s checks and balances,” Washington said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s unheard of for a project to be done as quickly as they want it to be done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, California Forever spokesperson Jim Wunderman said any shipyard project will comply with all California environmental and land use laws. He said county supervisors already approved using the 2008 impact report, and that legislation would allow the group to “meet prospective employers’ timelines.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said by pursuing expansion within Suisun City, California Forever is following the community’s preferences by channeling new growth into existing cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An ongoing presence in the Capitol\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since 2024, California Forever has spent at least $330,000 lobbying the Legislature and governor’s office on bills and other actions, according to campaign finance records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steinberg and Hertzberg told CalMatters they were hired in April as “special counsel,” not lobbyists, meaning they are spending less than a third of their time talking with public officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grimes, who said he respects Steinberg for leading landmark environmental land use reforms in the Legislature, said he’s disappointed in his advocacy for California Forever, “a project that is antithetical to all of this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011201\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011201\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A California Forever office in the Solano Town Center mall in Fairfield on April 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California Forever reported spending $90,000 lobbying the governor’s office and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, GO-Biz, last year on “federal shipbuilding activities and California business attraction and retention activities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“GO-Biz has discussed relevant state incentive programs with Saronic and explained how they operate,” said GO-Biz spokesperson Willie Rudman. He said the agency does not offer incentive packages to specific companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall though, GO-Biz helped organize a bid for Saronic to settle in Solano County. County staff reported during a board meeting that GO-Biz supported a \u003ca href=\"http://www.thereporter.com/2025/09/03/solano-state-reps-decline-shipyard-legislation-requests/?clearUserState=true\">legislative effort\u003c/a> to override the county’s “orderly growth” law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County supervisors rushed through a proposal to change the boundaries of the Solano Shipyard to comply, but with just days remaining before the end of the legislative session, Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/lori-wilson-165454\">Lori Wilson\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Suisun City, said there wasn’t time to introduce legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, Wilson said, the proposal has been on the table, but “nothing’s been requested” of her office by California Forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company also urged lawmakers to act fast or risk losing the shipbuilder to Texas last year — a negotiating tactic common in economic development, Cabaldon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12048457\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12048457\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1048\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever2-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever2-1536x805.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Solano Foundry would be located in an area previously designated for “industry and technology” within the new city. It would also be close to Collinsville, where the company wants to build a shipyard. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California Forever)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Cabaldon argued that Saronic will decide where to place its shipyard based on “defense needs of the United States of America” instead of state incentives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to negotiate with our eyes open.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>For the record: This story was corrected to reflect that Joshua Arce is executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs. It was also updated to add that GO-Biz says it does not offer incentive packages to specific companies.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-forever-solano-shipyard-deal/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Following years of local resistance, tech billionaires are turning to the state to fast track their plan to build a new city in the Bay Area. ",
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"title": "Tech Billionaires Hire Democratic Dealmakers in Renewed Push to Build a Bay Area City | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-forever\">California Forever,\u003c/a> the tech billionaire-backed group that hopes to build a city from scratch on farmland in the outer San Francisco Bay Area, is lobbying state leaders to fast-track a massive shipbuilding deal that would kick-start its development after years of local opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The billionaires behind the project are seeking a deal to expedite environmental reviews of the development and, if necessary, bypass county restrictions on building by being absorbed into Suisun City boundaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve hired former Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and former Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg — Democratic architects of landmark environmental laws — to make their case, and are using the prospect of luring a major shipbuilder to California to accelerate the dealmaking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Forever has pursued its project for nearly a decade, though the vision has shifted: At first pitched as a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2024/02/california-forever-promises/\">walkable city\u003c/a> with cottages, bike lanes and even a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/heres-what-a-proposed-california-forever-lagoon-would-look-like/\">water park\u003c/a>, the plan then added a major shipbuilding operation and, last summer, a significant \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailyrepublic.com/business/solano-business/california-forever-marries-new-manufacturing-park-to-travis-shipbuilding-east-solano/article_bfd6f346-0ee7-4492-a08a-b4339439b76b.html\">manufacturing hub\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Forever’s proponents, led by the state’s powerful building trades union along with realtors, peace officers and pro-housing groups, argue the latest proposal would boost the state’s economy and bring \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayareaeconomy.org/report/suisun-expansion-plan-and-solano-shipyard/\">an estimated\u003c/a> half a million jobs to California. And now, a prospective tenant has emerged: Defense company \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2026/04/09/saronic-technologies-california-forever-solano.html\">Saronic Technologies, Inc\u003c/a>., which builds autonomous vessels for use in national security, is deciding between California and Texas for its next factory. The state must fast-track the development or lose the deal, supporters argue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The developers are seeking the state’s permission to use an 18-year-old environmental impact report for the shipyard development, limit any legal challenges to the project to 270 days, and allow Suisun City to annex their land if needed, according to Steinberg and Hertzberg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067288\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067288\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-17-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-17-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-17-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-17-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The intersection of Highway 12 and Highway 113 in Solano County outside of Suisun City on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In short, if legislation is not approved, California will lose billions of dollars in investments and tens of thousands of jobs this summer to Texas and other states,” proponents \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailyrepublic.com/news/trades-labor-coalition-ask-state-leaders-to-pony-up-for-california-forever-projects/article_08128859-63cc-4861-b06c-2d3565dd27d3.html\">wrote in a joint letter\u003c/a> to Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some locals and lawmakers are skeptical, arguing that details about the project remain scarce. The proposed development would convert vast farmlands into factories and risk harming the surrounding ecosystem, they said, which deserves rigorous environmental review under the landmark California Environmental Quality Act that proponents are seeking to expedite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For a project this scale in this location, it is what the (law) was designed for,” said Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/christopher-cabaldon-5699\">Christopher Cabaldon\u003c/a>, a Napa Democrat who represents the area. “A central question for the people of Solano County is: Is this going to be for the community or is this a conversion project that leaves them behind?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents also slammed California Forever for pursuing relief behind closed doors with state leaders and circumventing local opposition. Since 2018, the group has secretly bought up agricultural land, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcn.org/articles/the-california-forever-debate-moves-underground/\">shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars\u003c/a> to court local residents and spent at least $330,000 lobbying the governor and legislative leaders for favorable legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think they know that the only way this actually happens is under cover of darkness, by trying to essentially get the governor to work this plan for them,” said Jordan Grimes, legislative director at Greenbelt Alliance, which has advocated for streamlined environmental reviews for housing projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Secretive beginnings foment distrust\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For residents of Solano County, an agricultural community on the outskirts of the Bay Area that includes coastal areas next to a deep-water shipping lane, the suspicion around California Forever has been hard to shake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group’s subsidiary, Flannery Associates, started buying up farmland in 2018, eventually acquiring 62,000 acres while routinely refusing to answer questions about its backers. Some farmers later alleged the company used strong-arm tactics to get them to sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/25/business/land-purchases-solano-county.html\">Flannery’s backers were unmasked\u003c/a> as a group of wealthy venture capitalists including the founders of LinkedIn and Netscape, all led by former Goldman Sachs trader and real estate developer Jan Sramek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12048452\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12048452\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Solano Foundry would be built next to homes within California Forever’s proposed mega-development and would provide space for defense tech, transportation, energy and other advanced manufacturing companies. The company’s announcement comes just a year after it pulled a ballot initiative to build a city from scratch in southeast Solano County. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California Forever)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Marc Andreessen, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, holds investments in both California Forever and Saronic, the defense company eyeing California. Andreessen’s firm did not immediately return a CalMatters inquiry for comment. Despite rocky beginnings, California Forever needed the majority of Solano County voters on its side due to a 1984 “orderly growth” law that requires voters to approve development on unincorporated land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2024, the company debuted the East Solano Plan to rezone 17,500 acres of agricultural land for a dense, 400,000-person city. The proposal was set to go before voters that year, but its backers pulled it following powerful grassroots opposition, \u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2024/04/08/opposition-groups-poll-shows-majority-reject-new-solano-county-city/?clearUserState=true\">poor polling\u003c/a> and a county assessment that found holes in the plan. Sramek \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook-pm/2024/07/29/how-california-forevers-ballot-initiative-failed-00171735\">acknowledged\u003c/a> the group likely moved too fast and said the initiative would go back before voters in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, the group has pivoted. The East Solano Plan has become the Suisun Expansion Plan and the Solano Shipyard. In January 2025, Suisun City’s city council directed its manager to explore expanding the city’s limits through annexation, which is now underway, although it could take years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The annexation and the ship building have been a clear way to work around the need for voter support in Solano County,” said Nate Huntington, a member of the grassroots group Solano Together, which formed in response to the secretive land purchases. Huntington pointed out that California Forever hasn’t even submitted a proposal for a shipbuilding facility to the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of this has been happening in backrooms of Sacramento, and it’s not been publicly available.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Seeking state environmental relief\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California Forever is now selling the development to the state as a major incentive to lure manufacturers and shipbuilders to California — and the subsequent need for housing to accommodate the promised jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company wants the governor and state lawmakers to cut red tape for the development and require enough housing for the new jobs. Steinberg and Hertzberg told CalMatters they are contemplating legislation to that end, but only after California Forever signs a lease with a manufacturer or shipbuilder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their plan would allow the governor to designate construction on company land as “environmental leadership development projects,” which would effectively require any litigation to be resolved within 270 days. Steinberg authored the state law streamlining that process in 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036285\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036285\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/231205-SolanoCountyFarmers-39-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jan Sramek, CEO of California Forever, speaks during a town hall meeting in Rio Vista on Dec. 5, 2023, for the proposed California city backed by Silicon Valley investors on farmland in eastern Solano County. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://dot.ca.gov/programs/environmental-analysis/standard-environmental-reference-ser/volume-1-guidance-for-compliance/ch-36-environmental-impact-report\">State law\u003c/a> requires government agencies to prepare a report for any project that might have a significant impact on the environment. Instead of assessing the impact of the proposed shipyard, Steinberg and Hertzberg’s proposal would use a \u003ca href=\"https://content.solanocounty.gov/sites/default/files/2025-05/Solano%20County%20DEIR%20-%204-18-08.pdf\">2008 report\u003c/a>, which designated the area where the shipyard would go as “\u003ca href=\"https://baynature.org/2026/06/16/science-nature/bay/how-would-california-forevers-proposed-solano-shipyard-affect-the-environment-details-are-scant/\">water-dependent industrial usage\u003c/a>.” Most of California Forever’s \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/shipyard/\">7,500-acre\u003c/a> planned footprint does not have that designation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steinberg told CalMatters the report is sufficient since the site has changed little.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state and county need the ability to say yes now to these numerous opportunities,” he said in a text. A new report, he said, “would require years of additional delay and lost opportunities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the report is outdated, Cabaldon argues.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This is completely different,” he said. “Just the notion that you would just say, ‘We are not going to do any assessments at all and we’ll just rely on this old one’ — that is not consistent with what the public interest is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steinberg and Hertzberg also want the state to require enough housing in the area, but to allow surrounding cities and Solano County to permit local housing developers to build first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if local governments aren’t willing to or cannot build enough housing within the timeline the manufacturer or the shipbuilder wants, Steinberg and Hertzberg’s proposal would allow Suisun City to annex adjacent California Forever-owned county land into its city boundaries — a controversial idea that has \u003ca href=\"https://www.vallejosun.com/activists-call-for-vote-on-california-forevers-suisun-city-expansion-plan/\">drawn fierce local opposition\u003c/a>. The move would be a “last resort,” Steinberg and Hertzberg stressed repeatedly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The annexation would effectively bypass the county’s orderly growth initiative, which requires voters to have a say in development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The shipbuilders and manufacturers need certainty on a much faster timeline,” Steinberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cabaldon said the pitch to build new housing to accommodate theoretical jobs is “fantastical,” noting that Saronic, the proposed ship-builder, is a leader in automation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no indication that this is going to generate on an ongoing basis that many jobs, and certainly not more jobs than we have housing for even today without building a single additional unit,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Historic union agreement prompts support\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In January, California Forever announced it had signed a 40-year deal with the Napa/Solano Building Trades Council and Northern California Carpenters Union to use union labor to build its development. The agreement was an important political alliance for CEO Sramek, bringing more influential advocates to the table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Digital Democracy, both the Building Trades Council and the Carpenters Union have given roughly $10 million in direct donations to legislative candidates since 2000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those advocates made themselves heard over the past few weeks, following a Texas county court \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2026/06/17/saronic-brownsville-port-alpha-california.html\">approving significant tax incentives\u003c/a> to lure Saronic to Brownsville. In a statement, Saronic said its nationwide search is still “active and ongoing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12052354\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12052354\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250804-CALIFORNIAFOREVERSUISUNCITY-53-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250804-CALIFORNIAFOREVERSUISUNCITY-53-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250804-CALIFORNIAFOREVERSUISUNCITY-53-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250804-CALIFORNIAFOREVERSUISUNCITY-53-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of the Suisun Slough in Suisun City, Solano County, on Aug. 4, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The California Alliance For Jobs, an alliance of influential construction companies and workers, drafted two letters in quick succession calling for legislative leaders to streamline the California Forever expansion and shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We champed at the bit to go all in to get this project moving, and to get legislation through Sacramento this session,” said Joshua Arce, executive director of the alliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suisun City Councilmember Princess Washington, who has consistently been the sole vote on the council against the annexation plan, said she feels organized labor is being used as “political pressure” to win approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Processes are slow, but they’re done that way through government to ensure that it’s being done correctly, that all parties of interest are being treated fairly, and there’s checks and balances,” Washington said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s unheard of for a project to be done as quickly as they want it to be done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, California Forever spokesperson Jim Wunderman said any shipyard project will comply with all California environmental and land use laws. He said county supervisors already approved using the 2008 impact report, and that legislation would allow the group to “meet prospective employers’ timelines.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said by pursuing expansion within Suisun City, California Forever is following the community’s preferences by channeling new growth into existing cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An ongoing presence in the Capitol\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since 2024, California Forever has spent at least $330,000 lobbying the Legislature and governor’s office on bills and other actions, according to campaign finance records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steinberg and Hertzberg told CalMatters they were hired in April as “special counsel,” not lobbyists, meaning they are spending less than a third of their time talking with public officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grimes, who said he respects Steinberg for leading landmark environmental land use reforms in the Legislature, said he’s disappointed in his advocacy for California Forever, “a project that is antithetical to all of this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011201\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011201\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240502-CaliforniaForever-10-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A California Forever office in the Solano Town Center mall in Fairfield on April 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California Forever reported spending $90,000 lobbying the governor’s office and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, GO-Biz, last year on “federal shipbuilding activities and California business attraction and retention activities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“GO-Biz has discussed relevant state incentive programs with Saronic and explained how they operate,” said GO-Biz spokesperson Willie Rudman. He said the agency does not offer incentive packages to specific companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall though, GO-Biz helped organize a bid for Saronic to settle in Solano County. County staff reported during a board meeting that GO-Biz supported a \u003ca href=\"http://www.thereporter.com/2025/09/03/solano-state-reps-decline-shipyard-legislation-requests/?clearUserState=true\">legislative effort\u003c/a> to override the county’s “orderly growth” law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County supervisors rushed through a proposal to change the boundaries of the Solano Shipyard to comply, but with just days remaining before the end of the legislative session, Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/lori-wilson-165454\">Lori Wilson\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Suisun City, said there wasn’t time to introduce legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, Wilson said, the proposal has been on the table, but “nothing’s been requested” of her office by California Forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company also urged lawmakers to act fast or risk losing the shipbuilder to Texas last year — a negotiating tactic common in economic development, Cabaldon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12048457\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12048457\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1048\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever2-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/CAForever2-1536x805.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Solano Foundry would be located in an area previously designated for “industry and technology” within the new city. It would also be close to Collinsville, where the company wants to build a shipyard. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California Forever)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Cabaldon argued that Saronic will decide where to place its shipyard based on “defense needs of the United States of America” instead of state incentives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to negotiate with our eyes open.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>For the record: This story was corrected to reflect that Joshua Arce is executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs. It was also updated to add that GO-Biz says it does not offer incentive packages to specific companies.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-forever-solano-shipyard-deal/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "‘Toxic Land’: Protest Targets SF Housing Plans at Contaminated Hunters Point Naval Shipyard",
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"content": "\u003cp>Environmental activists and community members rallied on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday, calling for city leaders to push for a full cleanup of radioactive contamination at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999631/navy-apologizes-for-11-month-delay-in-reporting-radioactive-material-at-hunters-point\">Hunters Point Naval Shipyard\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holding signs like “No homes on toxic land,” more than 100 members of 28 local organizations demanded a comprehensive retesting of the site, full cleanup of all contamination, greater community oversight and health reparations for residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rally comes after the U.S. Navy \u003ca href=\"https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USNAVFAC/bulletins/4174021\">disclosed\u003c/a> this spring that radiological material was found in a cabinet at the former naval shipyard in April during the long-running cleanup operation. It’s the latest in a long line of discoveries of dangerous substances at the infamous superfund site, which could soon be developed into thousands of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a \u003ca href=\"https://hpscac.net/061526er/\">community advisory meeting\u003c/a> last week, the Navy revealed it discovered about \u003ca href=\"https://hpscac.net/061526er/\">200 radiological items\u003c/a>, including samples of uranium, and dozens of jars of other substances. The items were found in a 4,000-square-foot annex called Building 400A. Navy officials said in a \u003ca href=\"https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USNAVFAC/bulletins/4174021\">statement\u003c/a> that the items were “unrelated to project work being done at any time over the course of the cleanup.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The materials were likely placed in the building by a former subcontractor, officials with the Navy said. They also said the subcontractor was not authorized to store the material on site and that there are “no public or contractor health and safety issues related to this incident.” The exact materials found were not disclosed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088811\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12088811\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-42-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-42-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-42-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-42-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Ahimsa Sumchai speaks during a rally on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on June 24, 2026, organized by Bayview-Hunters Point community groups concerned about radioactive and toxic contamination at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund site and its impact on surrounding communities. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Michael Pound, the Navy’s environmental coordinator for the area, said the Navy and its contractors will evaluate the materials, develop a plan to dispose of them and create a summary report. He adds that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are also developing evaluations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not in a position to declare something illegal,” Pound said. “I can just say that they did not have authorization to have those materials in that building.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though he was invited, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie didn’t turn up at the rally. Instead, the city sent Lila Hussain, senior project manager for the shipyard with the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure, who said she came to “listen to all the voices” there and to work with agencies and the public. She said her department will review the reports on the contamination and share them with the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088807\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12088807 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-15-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-15-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-15-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-15-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arieann Harrison speaks during a rally on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on June 24, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Arieann Harrison, executive director of the Marie Harrison Community Foundation, said she was skeptical of the Navy’s claim that a subcontractor brought in the material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t believe that,” Harrison said. “We’ve been here before, and this is like history repeating itself. Because this fight has been going on generationally, we need to take another look and another approach at what’s actually been transpiring amongst long-term residents in District 10.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Theo Ellington grew up in the area and is running for the District 10 supervisor’s seat. He said the community deserves transparency from the Navy and the city.[aside postID=news_12085617 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260530-bayviewswim01259_TV_qed.jpg']“We’ve lived with contamination, pollution, broken promises and unanswered questions,” Ellington said. “Every time we think we’re getting closer, we learn that there is still more work to do. And so today, we are demanding that our government do right by the people it serves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the Cold War, the soil and groundwater of the 866-acre Hunters Point site — as well as surface water and sediment in the San Francisco Bay — were contaminated with radioactive chemicals, heavy metals and petroleum fuels from ships brought to the yard after atomic bomb tests. The base was declared one of the nation’s most contaminated sites in 1989.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday’s announcement is just the latest in a decades-long effort to clean up the site. Last year, San Francisco officials and advocates raised alarms that the Navy had failed to alert the public to high levels of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999023/navy-took-11-months-to-alert-sf-to-airborne-plutonium-at-hunters-point-shipyard-site\">airborne radioactive material \u003c/a>detected at the site almost a year earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023, the Navy \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1985646/radioactive-object-found-at-san-franciscos-hunters-point-naval-shipyard-raises-new-concerns\">unearthed two radioactive objects\u003c/a> there. Early last year, the Navy, for the first time, acknowledged what Bay Area climate scientists and residents had asked the agency to investigate for years: In just over a decade, potentially \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1991758/u-s-navy-acknowledges-rising-toxic-groundwater-threat-at-sf-superfund-site\">toxic groundwater\u003c/a> could surface there, partly due to human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in 2022, the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury issued a report \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1980324/sf-supervisors-unhappy-with-citys-lack-of-action-to-protect-bayview-hunters-point-residents-from-toxic-sea-level-rise\">alerting the public\u003c/a> that groundwater rise — a result of sea levels rising in response to global emissions melting ice caps and expanding oceans — could have significant effects on the site in the coming decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088805\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12088805\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrators gather on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on June 24, 2026, during a rally organized by Bayview-Hunters Point community groups raising concerns about radioactive and toxic contamination at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund site. \u003ccite>(https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-10-BL-KQED.jpg)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The latest findings raise fresh questions about the city’s plans to build thousands of homes amid an exceedingly complex and ongoing cleanup effort. When finished, the 693-acre Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard project — which the Superfund site is part of — could have more than 10,000 housing units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The development would include two new waterfront neighborhoods with housing and retail, along with over 340 acres of parks and open space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harrison said building housing on top of any lingering radioactive contamination is unacceptable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not a call against development,” organizers wrote in a press release. “This is a call for truth. This is a call for science. This is a call for transparency. And above all, this is a call for environmental justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Environmental activists and community members rallied on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday, calling for city leaders to push for a full cleanup of radioactive contamination at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999631/navy-apologizes-for-11-month-delay-in-reporting-radioactive-material-at-hunters-point\">Hunters Point Naval Shipyard\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holding signs like “No homes on toxic land,” more than 100 members of 28 local organizations demanded a comprehensive retesting of the site, full cleanup of all contamination, greater community oversight and health reparations for residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rally comes after the U.S. Navy \u003ca href=\"https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USNAVFAC/bulletins/4174021\">disclosed\u003c/a> this spring that radiological material was found in a cabinet at the former naval shipyard in April during the long-running cleanup operation. It’s the latest in a long line of discoveries of dangerous substances at the infamous superfund site, which could soon be developed into thousands of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a \u003ca href=\"https://hpscac.net/061526er/\">community advisory meeting\u003c/a> last week, the Navy revealed it discovered about \u003ca href=\"https://hpscac.net/061526er/\">200 radiological items\u003c/a>, including samples of uranium, and dozens of jars of other substances. The items were found in a 4,000-square-foot annex called Building 400A. Navy officials said in a \u003ca href=\"https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USNAVFAC/bulletins/4174021\">statement\u003c/a> that the items were “unrelated to project work being done at any time over the course of the cleanup.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The materials were likely placed in the building by a former subcontractor, officials with the Navy said. They also said the subcontractor was not authorized to store the material on site and that there are “no public or contractor health and safety issues related to this incident.” The exact materials found were not disclosed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088811\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12088811\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-42-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-42-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-42-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-42-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Ahimsa Sumchai speaks during a rally on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on June 24, 2026, organized by Bayview-Hunters Point community groups concerned about radioactive and toxic contamination at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund site and its impact on surrounding communities. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Michael Pound, the Navy’s environmental coordinator for the area, said the Navy and its contractors will evaluate the materials, develop a plan to dispose of them and create a summary report. He adds that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are also developing evaluations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not in a position to declare something illegal,” Pound said. “I can just say that they did not have authorization to have those materials in that building.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though he was invited, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie didn’t turn up at the rally. Instead, the city sent Lila Hussain, senior project manager for the shipyard with the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure, who said she came to “listen to all the voices” there and to work with agencies and the public. She said her department will review the reports on the contamination and share them with the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088807\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12088807 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-15-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-15-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-15-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-15-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arieann Harrison speaks during a rally on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on June 24, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Arieann Harrison, executive director of the Marie Harrison Community Foundation, said she was skeptical of the Navy’s claim that a subcontractor brought in the material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t believe that,” Harrison said. “We’ve been here before, and this is like history repeating itself. Because this fight has been going on generationally, we need to take another look and another approach at what’s actually been transpiring amongst long-term residents in District 10.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Theo Ellington grew up in the area and is running for the District 10 supervisor’s seat. He said the community deserves transparency from the Navy and the city.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We’ve lived with contamination, pollution, broken promises and unanswered questions,” Ellington said. “Every time we think we’re getting closer, we learn that there is still more work to do. And so today, we are demanding that our government do right by the people it serves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the Cold War, the soil and groundwater of the 866-acre Hunters Point site — as well as surface water and sediment in the San Francisco Bay — were contaminated with radioactive chemicals, heavy metals and petroleum fuels from ships brought to the yard after atomic bomb tests. The base was declared one of the nation’s most contaminated sites in 1989.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday’s announcement is just the latest in a decades-long effort to clean up the site. Last year, San Francisco officials and advocates raised alarms that the Navy had failed to alert the public to high levels of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999023/navy-took-11-months-to-alert-sf-to-airborne-plutonium-at-hunters-point-shipyard-site\">airborne radioactive material \u003c/a>detected at the site almost a year earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023, the Navy \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1985646/radioactive-object-found-at-san-franciscos-hunters-point-naval-shipyard-raises-new-concerns\">unearthed two radioactive objects\u003c/a> there. Early last year, the Navy, for the first time, acknowledged what Bay Area climate scientists and residents had asked the agency to investigate for years: In just over a decade, potentially \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1991758/u-s-navy-acknowledges-rising-toxic-groundwater-threat-at-sf-superfund-site\">toxic groundwater\u003c/a> could surface there, partly due to human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in 2022, the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury issued a report \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1980324/sf-supervisors-unhappy-with-citys-lack-of-action-to-protect-bayview-hunters-point-residents-from-toxic-sea-level-rise\">alerting the public\u003c/a> that groundwater rise — a result of sea levels rising in response to global emissions melting ice caps and expanding oceans — could have significant effects on the site in the coming decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088805\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12088805\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrators gather on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on June 24, 2026, during a rally organized by Bayview-Hunters Point community groups raising concerns about radioactive and toxic contamination at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund site. \u003ccite>(https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260624-ShipyardCleanupRally-10-BL-KQED.jpg)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The latest findings raise fresh questions about the city’s plans to build thousands of homes amid an exceedingly complex and ongoing cleanup effort. When finished, the 693-acre Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard project — which the Superfund site is part of — could have more than 10,000 housing units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The development would include two new waterfront neighborhoods with housing and retail, along with over 340 acres of parks and open space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harrison said building housing on top of any lingering radioactive contamination is unacceptable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not a call against development,” organizers wrote in a press release. “This is a call for truth. This is a call for science. This is a call for transparency. And above all, this is a call for environmental justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Civil Grand Jury Finds San Francisco’s Homelessness System Puts ‘Vulnerable Residents at Risk’",
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"content": "\u003cp>Despite a growing budget and attention from virtually every politician in San Francisco, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083310/fewer-people-are-sleeping-on-san-francisco-streets-but-family-homelessness-is-up\">homelessness response systems\u003c/a> are failing to produce adequate outcomes and lack sufficient oversight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s according to a \u003ca href=\"https://media.api.sf.gov/documents/2026_CGJ_Rpt_At_Scale_At_Risk_-_Upgrading_Data_and_Oversight_to_Improve_Homele_woZ0ksh.pdf\">report\u003c/a> released Tuesday by the 2025-26 Civil Grand Jury, a body made up of 19 San Francisco residents tasked with investigating and recommending improvements to city functions. The report comes as San Francisco has made a number of significant shifts in its approach to homelessness under the leadership of Mayor Daniel Lurie, who made the issue a key component of his campaign for office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Homelessness is growing faster than it is being resolved,” the report read. “The current approach is not enough. San Francisco has invested billions to address homelessness over the last decade, yet the crisis continues to deepen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were 7,972 people experiencing homelessness in January of this year, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/2026-point-in-time-count-preliminary-results\">Point in Time Count\u003c/a>, a federal survey of the city’s homeless population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The total marks a 4% dip from the 2024 survey. But the number of people successfully exiting the city’s homelessness response system, meaning they moved on to stable housing, has declined 14.3% year-over-year, according to the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not a picture of success,” it read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072181\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072181\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Felony, a Chihuahua-poodle mix, stands on a leash beside owner Kali Donlin outside the Gubbio Project at St. John’s the Evangelist Episcopal Church on Feb. 2, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The report calls out the risks that people living in supportive housing or navigating the shelter system face, ranging from a higher likelihood of an overdose to falling back into homelessness, due to lagging tools and oversight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report points to public data showing that about 26% of all accidental drug overdose deaths in San Francisco occurred at permanent supportive housing sites in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Homelessness is marked by lack of support, instability and trauma, and a lot of these things manifest itself in a homeless population that is high acuity,” said Gary Hsueh, one of the jurors. “But we have to take that stat and make sure that it’s headed in the right direction, which is down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the city collects “critical incident reports” on deaths and other concerns that take place in permanent supportive housing, the report found that these reports are not systemically integrated into the system for informative feedback.[aside postID=news_12088339 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-06-KQED.jpg']“The report raises important issues around data use, oversight, critical incident reporting and provider monitoring, and HSH recognizes that there are areas where we must continue to improve,” a spokesperson for the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing said in an email. “HSH is already advancing improvements in data infrastructure, contract management, provider oversight and coordination with city partners to better identify risks, strengthen accountability and support safer outcomes for clients and communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jurors also analyzed the city’s approach of contracting out homeless services to nonprofits, which run housing sites and other services targeted to people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How we address homelessness should begin to pivot less from, ‘let’s make sure we incubate these community-based organizations and nonprofits’ to actually delivering on housing units,” Hsueh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several nonprofits tasked with providing homelessness resources have come under fire in recent years for mishandling funds or for underperformance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“HSH and our nonprofit partners are doing urgent and complex work every day with people experiencing significant medical, behavioral health and housing challenges,” the department said. “That work has helped thousands of people move indoors, remain housed and access critical services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie’s administration has also put an emphasis on building more short-term shelter and other transitional housing and drug treatment beds, in an effort to get more people off of the streets faster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962415\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11962415\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A series of tents lined up along a city sidewalk.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A homeless encampment on a sidewalk in San Francisco on Sept. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This year, the number of people sleeping outside in tents or on sidewalks has decreased by roughly 22% compared to 2024, according to the PIT Count.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More people are coming inside to get shelter and treatment, and we are moving in the right direction,” Lurie said after the latest PIT Count data was released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But spots in one of San Francisco’s shelters are still hard to secure. On Tuesday, there were 446 people on the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/data--check-your-position-adult-shelter-waitlist\">online waitlist for shelter\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the number of families experiencing homelessness has gone up. Some critics of the city’s current approach say there should be more investments into longer-term supportive housing options and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12087973/with-family-homelessness-up-san-francisco-looks-to-extend-short-term-rental-subsidies\">rental subsidies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report did not make specific recommendations about how the city should allocate the roughly $700 million annually that is budgeted for the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Despite a growing budget and attention from virtually every politician in San Francisco, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083310/fewer-people-are-sleeping-on-san-francisco-streets-but-family-homelessness-is-up\">homelessness response systems\u003c/a> are failing to produce adequate outcomes and lack sufficient oversight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s according to a \u003ca href=\"https://media.api.sf.gov/documents/2026_CGJ_Rpt_At_Scale_At_Risk_-_Upgrading_Data_and_Oversight_to_Improve_Homele_woZ0ksh.pdf\">report\u003c/a> released Tuesday by the 2025-26 Civil Grand Jury, a body made up of 19 San Francisco residents tasked with investigating and recommending improvements to city functions. The report comes as San Francisco has made a number of significant shifts in its approach to homelessness under the leadership of Mayor Daniel Lurie, who made the issue a key component of his campaign for office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Homelessness is growing faster than it is being resolved,” the report read. “The current approach is not enough. San Francisco has invested billions to address homelessness over the last decade, yet the crisis continues to deepen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were 7,972 people experiencing homelessness in January of this year, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/2026-point-in-time-count-preliminary-results\">Point in Time Count\u003c/a>, a federal survey of the city’s homeless population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The total marks a 4% dip from the 2024 survey. But the number of people successfully exiting the city’s homelessness response system, meaning they moved on to stable housing, has declined 14.3% year-over-year, according to the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not a picture of success,” it read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072181\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072181\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_004-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Felony, a Chihuahua-poodle mix, stands on a leash beside owner Kali Donlin outside the Gubbio Project at St. John’s the Evangelist Episcopal Church on Feb. 2, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The report calls out the risks that people living in supportive housing or navigating the shelter system face, ranging from a higher likelihood of an overdose to falling back into homelessness, due to lagging tools and oversight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report points to public data showing that about 26% of all accidental drug overdose deaths in San Francisco occurred at permanent supportive housing sites in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Homelessness is marked by lack of support, instability and trauma, and a lot of these things manifest itself in a homeless population that is high acuity,” said Gary Hsueh, one of the jurors. “But we have to take that stat and make sure that it’s headed in the right direction, which is down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the city collects “critical incident reports” on deaths and other concerns that take place in permanent supportive housing, the report found that these reports are not systemically integrated into the system for informative feedback.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The report raises important issues around data use, oversight, critical incident reporting and provider monitoring, and HSH recognizes that there are areas where we must continue to improve,” a spokesperson for the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing said in an email. “HSH is already advancing improvements in data infrastructure, contract management, provider oversight and coordination with city partners to better identify risks, strengthen accountability and support safer outcomes for clients and communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jurors also analyzed the city’s approach of contracting out homeless services to nonprofits, which run housing sites and other services targeted to people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How we address homelessness should begin to pivot less from, ‘let’s make sure we incubate these community-based organizations and nonprofits’ to actually delivering on housing units,” Hsueh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several nonprofits tasked with providing homelessness resources have come under fire in recent years for mishandling funds or for underperformance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“HSH and our nonprofit partners are doing urgent and complex work every day with people experiencing significant medical, behavioral health and housing challenges,” the department said. “That work has helped thousands of people move indoors, remain housed and access critical services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie’s administration has also put an emphasis on building more short-term shelter and other transitional housing and drug treatment beds, in an effort to get more people off of the streets faster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962415\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11962415\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A series of tents lined up along a city sidewalk.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A homeless encampment on a sidewalk in San Francisco on Sept. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This year, the number of people sleeping outside in tents or on sidewalks has decreased by roughly 22% compared to 2024, according to the PIT Count.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More people are coming inside to get shelter and treatment, and we are moving in the right direction,” Lurie said after the latest PIT Count data was released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But spots in one of San Francisco’s shelters are still hard to secure. On Tuesday, there were 446 people on the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/data--check-your-position-adult-shelter-waitlist\">online waitlist for shelter\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the number of families experiencing homelessness has gone up. Some critics of the city’s current approach say there should be more investments into longer-term supportive housing options and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12087973/with-family-homelessness-up-san-francisco-looks-to-extend-short-term-rental-subsidies\">rental subsidies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report did not make specific recommendations about how the city should allocate the roughly $700 million annually that is budgeted for the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Several longtime residents of a San Francisco \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/chinatown\">Chinatown\u003c/a> building are facing eviction in what they believe is an effort to turn the units over so the new owner can charge higher rents. Now, they’re working together to fight back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tenants at 1120 Jackson St. on the border of Nob Hill and Chinatown, including many Chinese immigrants who have lived in the building for decades, announced Monday they are forming a union and urging their new landlord to drop the eviction cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their struggle comes as rents in San Francisco are skyrocketing, largely driven by the artificial intelligence industry boom, and as evictions in the city are at the highest levels in nearly a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hope that the landlord of this building will hear our voice and stop this kind of harassment and eviction. Any planned evictions need to be stopped,” said Kin Wong, who has lived in the 16-unit building with his wife for more than 35 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the building was sold last summer, six residents have received eviction notices following apartment inspections and nuisance complaints about trash and clutter, according to Shelby Nacino, an attorney with the Asian Law Caucus who is representing tenants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one complaint obtained by KQED, a resident was dinged for having installed a washing machine “without permission,” but also cited for “unsanitary conditions” in the unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088402\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12088402\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">King Yan and others rally in front of 1120 Jackson St. in San Francisco to protest evictions and rent hikes proposed by the property’s new owner, on June 22, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many of the residents are monolingual Chinese speakers and have struggled to get clear information about what is happening to them or their neighbors, Nacino said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not normal to have six nuisance evictions in one building that are all very similar. The notices have slightly different language, but the gist of all six of them is that these people are so messy and so poor at maintaining their units that they’re causing a health and safety concern,” Nacino said. “What we’re really concerned about is the lack of communication. And so that’s why we’re here today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kit Ying Mak’s family is among them. She and her mother moved into the building in 2001 from Hong Kong, and she later married and raised her children in a separate unit in the building to remain close to care for her elderly mother.[aside postID=news_12087973 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-13-BL-KQED.jpg']“These inspections feel harassing, and all the while, I have not received any communications on what more I can do,” Mak said, adding that the previous owner and building manager never raised similar complaints about how they maintain their homes. “My kids are teens now. They have grown up in this building.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others, like Wong, have been hit with massive rent hikes that they say they can’t afford. For years under the previous building ownership, Wong’s wife worked as a resident manager at the rent-controlled property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That allowed them to maintain an exceptionally low rent around $210, Wong said. But after the building recently sold, the new owners began charging them $2,820 for the same one-bedroom where the couple raised their three children, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emily Wong, Kin Wong’s daughter, called the situation in her parents’ building a “shame.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It speaks to how difficult housing is in San Francisco,” she said. “My parents have said the only reason they have been able to save and put me and my siblings through college is because the building is rent-controlled and not eating up half of their income, especially as people who didn’t work in tech or medicine, but doing blue-collar labor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088403\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12088403\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kit Ying Mak speaks at a rally in front of 1120 Jackson St. in San Francisco to protest evictions and rent hikes proposed by the property’s new owner, on June 22, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The owners of the building, operating under a private LLC called Nabob Hill, said that they had documentation of every allegation of nuisance, which include “clutter and hoarding.” The owners also alleged that some tenants reside in other homes, which the tenants have denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The owners are confident that these matters will be resolved properly and lawfully, based upon their faith in the judicial process. At every stage, the owners have endeavored to act in full compliance with the law and have extended numerous courtesy notices to the tenants in an effort to address these issues amicably before pursuing further action,” Daniel Bornstein, who is legally representing Nabob Hill, LLC, said in an email on behalf of the owners. “The owners are pursuing these matters with the expectation that a resolution with the tenants will be fair, just, and equitable, considering the allegations of each particular matter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The average price for a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco is currently around $5,800, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/san-francisco-ca/?bedrooms=2\">Zillow\u003c/a>, a 35% increase from one year ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://vanguardproperties.com/home-search/listings/8540838278265249025-1120-1126-Jackson-Street\">online listing\u003c/a> for the property, now marked as closed, said that current rents in the building are significantly below-market, “with an estimated 224% rental upside achievable through unit turnover.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the longtime residents in the building have been able to stay in San Francisco on fixed incomes due to the city’s rent-control policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088405\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12088405\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-05-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laura Chiera, with Legal Assistance for the Elderly, speaks at a rally in front of 1120 Jackson St. in San Francisco to protest evictions and rent hikes proposed by the property’s new owner, on June 22, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s a charming older building along the cable car route, and was even pictured in a scene in \u003cem>The Princess Diaries\u003c/em> where Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis is pushing her scooter up a hill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the real estate market around the current tech boom soars, tenants like Wong are increasingly feeling the pressure from building owners who want to cash in on the moment, said Molly Goldberg, director of San Francisco’s Anti-Displacement Coalition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re seeing is the anticipation of an ability to get higher rents from these buildings. We’re seeing speculators go after buildings that have large numbers of long-term rent control tenants,” Goldberg said. “Our rights don’t change when a building is for sale.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laura Chiera, executive director of Legal Assistance to the Elderly, said that eviction notices have increased by roughly 25% in the last year and caseloads at her organization are spilling over. Statewide, seniors represent the fastest-growing demographic of people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are turning seniors away because we do not have the capacity to take all of the evictions that seniors in San Francisco are facing,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088408\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12088408\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-08-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People rally in front of 1120 Jackson St. in San Francisco to protest evictions and rent hikes proposed by the property’s new owner, on June 22, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco has stronger tenant protections and rent control policies than many other cities, but it’s often up to residents themselves to understand and assert those rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tenants told KQED they hope the union will allow them to share information and resources as they navigate their legal cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am part of the Tenants Association because we feel that the landlord is trying to take us out one by one,” Mac said. “My neighbors’ support has given me strength.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Several longtime residents of a San Francisco \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/chinatown\">Chinatown\u003c/a> building are facing eviction in what they believe is an effort to turn the units over so the new owner can charge higher rents. Now, they’re working together to fight back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tenants at 1120 Jackson St. on the border of Nob Hill and Chinatown, including many Chinese immigrants who have lived in the building for decades, announced Monday they are forming a union and urging their new landlord to drop the eviction cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their struggle comes as rents in San Francisco are skyrocketing, largely driven by the artificial intelligence industry boom, and as evictions in the city are at the highest levels in nearly a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hope that the landlord of this building will hear our voice and stop this kind of harassment and eviction. Any planned evictions need to be stopped,” said Kin Wong, who has lived in the 16-unit building with his wife for more than 35 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the building was sold last summer, six residents have received eviction notices following apartment inspections and nuisance complaints about trash and clutter, according to Shelby Nacino, an attorney with the Asian Law Caucus who is representing tenants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one complaint obtained by KQED, a resident was dinged for having installed a washing machine “without permission,” but also cited for “unsanitary conditions” in the unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088402\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12088402\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">King Yan and others rally in front of 1120 Jackson St. in San Francisco to protest evictions and rent hikes proposed by the property’s new owner, on June 22, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many of the residents are monolingual Chinese speakers and have struggled to get clear information about what is happening to them or their neighbors, Nacino said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not normal to have six nuisance evictions in one building that are all very similar. The notices have slightly different language, but the gist of all six of them is that these people are so messy and so poor at maintaining their units that they’re causing a health and safety concern,” Nacino said. “What we’re really concerned about is the lack of communication. And so that’s why we’re here today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kit Ying Mak’s family is among them. She and her mother moved into the building in 2001 from Hong Kong, and she later married and raised her children in a separate unit in the building to remain close to care for her elderly mother.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“These inspections feel harassing, and all the while, I have not received any communications on what more I can do,” Mak said, adding that the previous owner and building manager never raised similar complaints about how they maintain their homes. “My kids are teens now. They have grown up in this building.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others, like Wong, have been hit with massive rent hikes that they say they can’t afford. For years under the previous building ownership, Wong’s wife worked as a resident manager at the rent-controlled property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That allowed them to maintain an exceptionally low rent around $210, Wong said. But after the building recently sold, the new owners began charging them $2,820 for the same one-bedroom where the couple raised their three children, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emily Wong, Kin Wong’s daughter, called the situation in her parents’ building a “shame.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It speaks to how difficult housing is in San Francisco,” she said. “My parents have said the only reason they have been able to save and put me and my siblings through college is because the building is rent-controlled and not eating up half of their income, especially as people who didn’t work in tech or medicine, but doing blue-collar labor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088403\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12088403\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kit Ying Mak speaks at a rally in front of 1120 Jackson St. in San Francisco to protest evictions and rent hikes proposed by the property’s new owner, on June 22, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The owners of the building, operating under a private LLC called Nabob Hill, said that they had documentation of every allegation of nuisance, which include “clutter and hoarding.” The owners also alleged that some tenants reside in other homes, which the tenants have denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The owners are confident that these matters will be resolved properly and lawfully, based upon their faith in the judicial process. At every stage, the owners have endeavored to act in full compliance with the law and have extended numerous courtesy notices to the tenants in an effort to address these issues amicably before pursuing further action,” Daniel Bornstein, who is legally representing Nabob Hill, LLC, said in an email on behalf of the owners. “The owners are pursuing these matters with the expectation that a resolution with the tenants will be fair, just, and equitable, considering the allegations of each particular matter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The average price for a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco is currently around $5,800, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/san-francisco-ca/?bedrooms=2\">Zillow\u003c/a>, a 35% increase from one year ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://vanguardproperties.com/home-search/listings/8540838278265249025-1120-1126-Jackson-Street\">online listing\u003c/a> for the property, now marked as closed, said that current rents in the building are significantly below-market, “with an estimated 224% rental upside achievable through unit turnover.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the longtime residents in the building have been able to stay in San Francisco on fixed incomes due to the city’s rent-control policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088405\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12088405\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-05-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laura Chiera, with Legal Assistance for the Elderly, speaks at a rally in front of 1120 Jackson St. in San Francisco to protest evictions and rent hikes proposed by the property’s new owner, on June 22, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s a charming older building along the cable car route, and was even pictured in a scene in \u003cem>The Princess Diaries\u003c/em> where Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis is pushing her scooter up a hill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the real estate market around the current tech boom soars, tenants like Wong are increasingly feeling the pressure from building owners who want to cash in on the moment, said Molly Goldberg, director of San Francisco’s Anti-Displacement Coalition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re seeing is the anticipation of an ability to get higher rents from these buildings. We’re seeing speculators go after buildings that have large numbers of long-term rent control tenants,” Goldberg said. “Our rights don’t change when a building is for sale.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laura Chiera, executive director of Legal Assistance to the Elderly, said that eviction notices have increased by roughly 25% in the last year and caseloads at her organization are spilling over. Statewide, seniors represent the fastest-growing demographic of people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are turning seniors away because we do not have the capacity to take all of the evictions that seniors in San Francisco are facing,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12088408\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12088408\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260622-SF-CHINATOWN-TENANT-RALLY-MD-08-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People rally in front of 1120 Jackson St. in San Francisco to protest evictions and rent hikes proposed by the property’s new owner, on June 22, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco has stronger tenant protections and rent control policies than many other cities, but it’s often up to residents themselves to understand and assert those rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tenants told KQED they hope the union will allow them to share information and resources as they navigate their legal cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am part of the Tenants Association because we feel that the landlord is trying to take us out one by one,” Mac said. “My neighbors’ support has given me strength.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> officials are looking to remove a 12% spending cap on short-term rental subsidies, which offer adults assistance for two years, in what they say is a bid to keep people off the streets. But the move is drawing criticism from some advocates for homelessness services in San Francisco who say the city should instead be investing in longer-term solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal comes as San Francisco is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12085729/with-layoffs-ahead-san-francisco-mayor-lurie-unveils-17-billion-city-budget\">finalizing its nearly $16 billion budget\u003c/a>, against a backdrop of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083310/fewer-people-are-sleeping-on-san-francisco-streets-but-family-homelessness-is-up\">rising rates of homelessness among families\u003c/a> in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t want them to lift the cap. We instead want them to use funds to do ongoing rental assistance, given that many of the households are on fixed incomes and won’t be able to take over the rent after a couple years,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of the reallocation say putting more money toward short-term subsidies will allow more people to move into housing faster. The plan would create around 800 new rental subsidies, including 350 slots for families, 250 slots for adults and 200 slots for youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The subsidies are funded by new Homelessness Gross Receipts Tax revenue, which is generated through a ballot initiative voters passed in 2018. The proposed ordinance would lift the cap on short-term subsidy spending for the second year of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081593/homeless-funding-plan-raises-concerns-as-san-francisco-looks-to-narrow-budget-deficit\">proposed budget\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of May 2026, the city is funding 2,925 rapid rehousing rental subsidies. Of those, 1,673 are for adults, 749 are for families and 503 are for transitional-aged youth, according to the Budget and Legislative Analyst.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046175\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/GETTYIMAGES-2197492442-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1262\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/GETTYIMAGES-2197492442-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/GETTYIMAGES-2197492442-KQED-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/GETTYIMAGES-2197492442-KQED-1536x969.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A homeless encampment near Polk Street in San Francisco on Feb. 6, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The 12% is really quite limiting,” said Emily Cohen, deputy director for communications and legislative affairs at the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, at a budget committee hearing on Wednesday. “We really see this as an opportunity to drive more investments toward families and adults.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget committee unanimously passed the ordinance proposal on Wednesday, and it heads to the full Board of Supervisors on July 14. Changes to the gross receipts tax require two-thirds of the board to approve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maritza Salinas lives in transitional housing with her three children and has navigated the city’s homelessness system for years. She was recently offered a short-term rental subsidy that would help cover about $1,400 per month on rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12049535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12049535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250722-SHELTERFAMILIES-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250722-SHELTERFAMILIES-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250722-SHELTERFAMILIES-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250722-SHELTERFAMILIES-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maritza Salinas arrives at The Salvation Army Harbor House, a temporary shelter, with her daughter Ranea, 4, in San Francisco on July 22, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But she said that would hardly cover rent for a two-bedroom, which costs $5,600 per month on average in San Francisco, according to Zillow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For a family of four, where am I going to find a place to live? It’s impossible,” Salinas said. She was able to increase the subsidy to $3,200, which she described as a “blessing.” But she’s already thinking about what she will have to do at the end of the short-term subsidy period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, it feels good, but then after two years, where are we going to be?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another concern from advocates is that the majority of residents who receive rental subsidies often have to look outside the city for landlords who will accept them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Clearly there’s also a capacity issue,” Supervisor Connie Chan said at Wednesday’s meeting. “There are times that we could offer a voucher, but then they end up being outside of San Francisco, and a lot of families want to stay in San Francisco, and we want them to stay.”[aside postID=news_12083902 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/250723-SHELTERFAMILIES-06-BL-KQED.jpg']Chan voted to remove the short-term rental subsidy cap, saying it was important to get more families rapid support for housing and off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she urged the committee to consider using the millions of dollars that the homelessness tax has generated on reserve to invest in longer-term housing solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need housing, actual housing, not just shelters and hotels, so we need to make a parallel path to not only extend rental subsidies but build capacity for long-term housing,” Chan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan would not change the funding categories that voters approved in 2018, said Sophia Kittler, the mayor’s budget director, and it extends the temporary cap waiver that the board approved in previous budget cycles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homelessness Gross Receipts Tax revenue is allocated into four primary spending areas: at least 50% on permanent housing, 25% on mental health services, 15% on prevention programs and 10% on temporary shelter and hygiene programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In last year’s budget cycle, the mayor proposed increasing the funding allocation for temporary shelter, which the Coalition on Homelessness also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12045893/sf-supervisors-preserve-millions-for-homeless-prevention-housing-in-budget\">fought against\u003c/a> in favor of maintaining more funding for permanent housing options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To have a thriving San Francisco, we need to make sure that our poorest people in San Francisco can afford to live here,” Friedenbach said. “We’re depending on working-class people to make the city thrive, but then don’t have housing that they can afford.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> officials are looking to remove a 12% spending cap on short-term rental subsidies, which offer adults assistance for two years, in what they say is a bid to keep people off the streets. But the move is drawing criticism from some advocates for homelessness services in San Francisco who say the city should instead be investing in longer-term solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal comes as San Francisco is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12085729/with-layoffs-ahead-san-francisco-mayor-lurie-unveils-17-billion-city-budget\">finalizing its nearly $16 billion budget\u003c/a>, against a backdrop of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083310/fewer-people-are-sleeping-on-san-francisco-streets-but-family-homelessness-is-up\">rising rates of homelessness among families\u003c/a> in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t want them to lift the cap. We instead want them to use funds to do ongoing rental assistance, given that many of the households are on fixed incomes and won’t be able to take over the rent after a couple years,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of the reallocation say putting more money toward short-term subsidies will allow more people to move into housing faster. The plan would create around 800 new rental subsidies, including 350 slots for families, 250 slots for adults and 200 slots for youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The subsidies are funded by new Homelessness Gross Receipts Tax revenue, which is generated through a ballot initiative voters passed in 2018. The proposed ordinance would lift the cap on short-term subsidy spending for the second year of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081593/homeless-funding-plan-raises-concerns-as-san-francisco-looks-to-narrow-budget-deficit\">proposed budget\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of May 2026, the city is funding 2,925 rapid rehousing rental subsidies. Of those, 1,673 are for adults, 749 are for families and 503 are for transitional-aged youth, according to the Budget and Legislative Analyst.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046175\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/GETTYIMAGES-2197492442-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1262\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/GETTYIMAGES-2197492442-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/GETTYIMAGES-2197492442-KQED-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/GETTYIMAGES-2197492442-KQED-1536x969.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A homeless encampment near Polk Street in San Francisco on Feb. 6, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The 12% is really quite limiting,” said Emily Cohen, deputy director for communications and legislative affairs at the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, at a budget committee hearing on Wednesday. “We really see this as an opportunity to drive more investments toward families and adults.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget committee unanimously passed the ordinance proposal on Wednesday, and it heads to the full Board of Supervisors on July 14. Changes to the gross receipts tax require two-thirds of the board to approve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maritza Salinas lives in transitional housing with her three children and has navigated the city’s homelessness system for years. She was recently offered a short-term rental subsidy that would help cover about $1,400 per month on rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12049535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12049535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250722-SHELTERFAMILIES-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250722-SHELTERFAMILIES-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250722-SHELTERFAMILIES-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250722-SHELTERFAMILIES-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maritza Salinas arrives at The Salvation Army Harbor House, a temporary shelter, with her daughter Ranea, 4, in San Francisco on July 22, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But she said that would hardly cover rent for a two-bedroom, which costs $5,600 per month on average in San Francisco, according to Zillow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For a family of four, where am I going to find a place to live? It’s impossible,” Salinas said. She was able to increase the subsidy to $3,200, which she described as a “blessing.” But she’s already thinking about what she will have to do at the end of the short-term subsidy period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, it feels good, but then after two years, where are we going to be?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another concern from advocates is that the majority of residents who receive rental subsidies often have to look outside the city for landlords who will accept them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Clearly there’s also a capacity issue,” Supervisor Connie Chan said at Wednesday’s meeting. “There are times that we could offer a voucher, but then they end up being outside of San Francisco, and a lot of families want to stay in San Francisco, and we want them to stay.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Chan voted to remove the short-term rental subsidy cap, saying it was important to get more families rapid support for housing and off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she urged the committee to consider using the millions of dollars that the homelessness tax has generated on reserve to invest in longer-term housing solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need housing, actual housing, not just shelters and hotels, so we need to make a parallel path to not only extend rental subsidies but build capacity for long-term housing,” Chan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan would not change the funding categories that voters approved in 2018, said Sophia Kittler, the mayor’s budget director, and it extends the temporary cap waiver that the board approved in previous budget cycles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homelessness Gross Receipts Tax revenue is allocated into four primary spending areas: at least 50% on permanent housing, 25% on mental health services, 15% on prevention programs and 10% on temporary shelter and hygiene programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In last year’s budget cycle, the mayor proposed increasing the funding allocation for temporary shelter, which the Coalition on Homelessness also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12045893/sf-supervisors-preserve-millions-for-homeless-prevention-housing-in-budget\">fought against\u003c/a> in favor of maintaining more funding for permanent housing options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To have a thriving San Francisco, we need to make sure that our poorest people in San Francisco can afford to live here,” Friedenbach said. “We’re depending on working-class people to make the city thrive, but then don’t have housing that they can afford.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>How We Get By\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>full series here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When KQED launched \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">How We Get By\u003c/a>, its affordability project, I immediately thought of my friend and neighbor Nancy Morton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We see the faces of the affordability crisis everywhere in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are the parents \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081761/in-the-bay-area-raising-kids-comes-with-compromise\">squeezing bunk beds into cramped bedrooms\u003c/a>. They are the workers \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081761/in-the-bay-area-raising-kids-comes-with-compromise\">staring at retirement accounts\u003c/a> that seem increasingly fragile. They are the drivers watching gas prices spin higher, turning the simple act of getting to work into \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081471/driving-in-the-bay-area-is-essential-for-many-its-only-gotten-more-expensive\">another monthly calculation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are also the 91-year-old woman who opens her mail to discover her \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079706/theyre-bleeding-us-dry-seniors-struggle-with-rent-hikes-evictions-in-california-mobile-home-parks\">mobile home has become unaffordable\u003c/a>, and the young worker \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080289/700-a-month-sleeping-pods-make-sf-more-affordable-but-at-what-cost\">sleeping behind a privacy curtain\u003c/a> in a room full of strangers because $700 for a pod is the price of staying in San Francisco. In a region where everyday expenses seem to rise without end, immigrant-owned taquerias, bánh mì shops and noodle counters remain places \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13989331/best-cheap-affordable-restaurant-meals-bay-area-oakland-sf\">where a few dollars can still buy comfort\u003c/a>, community and a full stomach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taken together, these stories reveal a region where many people are no longer trying to get ahead — they are trying to stay put.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outside of the Rockridge branch of the Oakland Public Library, an unhoused man named William usually sits in the shade. Everything he owns travels with him. A wheelchair serves as a storage unit. Several carry-on suitcases are strapped to it. A bulging white trash bag rises above the luggage like a sail. The carefully balanced collection resembles a small movable room — the visible evidence of a life deciding what can be carried and what must be left behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent afternoon, Morton stopped to talk with William. She asked how he was doing. She offered to wash his laundry. I wave at William just about every day on my way home from BART. Most people walk past him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12084091\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12084091\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-17-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-17-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-17-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-17-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nancy Morton speaks with her unhoused neighbor, William, while walking through her neighborhood in Oakland on May 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area’s affordability crisis is usually measured in dollars — home prices, rents, grocery bills and retirement accounts. But affordability shapes more than bank balances. It influences who stays, who leaves and how much people are willing to invest in one another. Morton has responded to those pressures by opening her home to friends, unhoused people and refugees, hosting dinners and pressing city leaders on housing and public safety. In a region where rising costs increasingly isolate people from one another, Morton has chosen a different response: She has doubled down on community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I first met Morton when she invited me to dinner in 2016, back when I was a \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> columnist. Our typical conversation is about politics, life and books. I still can’t believe we disagreed about \u003cem>The Vanishing Half\u003c/em>, Brit Bennett’s novel about colorism, identity and the choices people make to survive. Like most conversations with Morton, the disagreement remained friendly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She is a Rockridge fixture, always up for coffee at Im Moment Kaffee or Hudson Bay Cafe, where she occasionally meets dates. She participates in events at the Local Economy community space on College Avenue and rarely misses an opportunity to connect with people.[aside postID=news_12084761 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/IMG_1522.jpg']On a recent evening, pork sizzled on the stove inside Morton’s home while thick string beans softened in a pan nearby. Cheesy potatoes sat beneath foil. Sherbet waited in the freezer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morton moved through the kitchen in socks, checking the oven while carrying on our conversation. That night, we talked about retirement, housing and what it means to grow older in one of the most expensive places in America. We talked about core strength, too — the kind developed through exercise and persistence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That conversation set the foundation for this story. Because when I think about Morton, I think about someone constantly exercising a different kind of muscle: the willingness to remain engaged in a city where many people feel exhausted, priced out or disconnected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For 35 years, Morton, 78, has lived in the same Rockridge house. Every morning begins with the same command to Alexa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Play KQED.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morton is comfortably settled. She owns a home in one of Oakland’s most desirable neighborhoods and spent decades working in financial services and nonprofit finance. She plays bridge and is approaching Life Master status. She sometimes wears silver glitter nail polish because, as she likes to say, “your hands are always in front of people.” She follows local politics closely, attends lectures and performances and still drives the same car she bought in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years ago, someone hit it on her way to yoga and drove off. Then, a few months ago, a man living in his car with his family offered to pound out the dent in a Home Depot parking lot. Morton later tracked him down and paid for a hotel room for his family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12084088\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12084088\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-07-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-07-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-07-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-07-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nancy Morton looks at notes left for her by people who have stayed in her home in Oakland on May 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’d rather do that than give to charities where I feel like the executives make all the money,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morton understands that affordability is about more than money. Like many Oakland residents, she is concerned about public safety. She spends time on Nextdoor, where the trending topics often involve crime, missing pets, suspicious activity caught on door cams, spam phone calls and requests for help from neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The comments make me so angry,” she told me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078769/oakland-crime-plunges-in-2026-but-many-residents-havent-felt-the-shift\">Crime is down in Oakland\u003c/a>. Violent crime, including homicide and rape, fell 22% during the first quarter compared with the same period in 2025. Homicides alone dropped 39%. The impacts remain uneven.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many residents, concerns about quality of life extend beyond crime to include housing costs, homelessness and the growing sense that the Bay Area is becoming harder to afford and harder to navigate. Those concerns surface frequently in Rockridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12084094\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12084094\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-24-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-24-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-24-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-24-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nancy Morton chats with a UC Berkeley student on the bus ride to sign up for a class at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Berkeley on May 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, plans for a 200-unit apartment building drew criticism from residents who argued the seven-story structure would be too tall. Years earlier, neighbors opposed a proposal to redevelop the former California College of the Arts campus with 600 homes, including a 19-story tower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now another debate looms over College Avenue. The Trader Joe’s that anchors one of Rockridge’s busiest commercial corridors could eventually be replaced by two residential towers containing 400 senior housing units. Supporters see desperately needed housing near transit. Critics worry about scale, traffic and neighborhood character.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morton follows the arguments closely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I tend to see myself more as a moderator than an activist,” she said. “I want to hear from the people who support these projects, too. Why do they want them? What am I missing?”[aside postID=arts_13989331 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/050526BEST-MEALS-UNDER-10_GH_021-KQED.jpg']That instinct to understand people before judging them has shaped much of her life. Morton grew up in Pasadena, where the Tournament of Roses paraded through town every New Year’s Day. As a teenager, she saw the Beatles perform in Glendale and later attended a Rolling Stones concert in Sacramento. Neither memory impresses her very much today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not that into that kind of music,” she said. “I’m into protest music. I’d much rather go see Joni Mitchell.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After college, she spent five months traveling through Europe before returning home, convinced she could not spend the rest of her life in Pasadena. There were no glamorous opportunities waiting for her. She waited tables at Denny’s. She worked temporary jobs in Oakland. She accepted a position with an airline that folded before training ever began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, she answered a newspaper ad for a house parent for girls who were wards of the court. Some had survived abuse. Others had been abandoned by their families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was 23 years old and suddenly responsible for five girls,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The work overwhelmed Morton, and she left after a year. But the connection endured. One of those girls still keeps in touch decades later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The through line is hard to miss. Morton has spent much of her life finding people who need someplace to land. Years later, that instinct resurfaced when she began opening her home to refugees. One was Messia, a woman from Afghanistan. Thomas, whom Morton met while volunteering at Crossroads Transitional Shelter in East Oakland, now lives in the backyard she-shed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12084087\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12084087\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nancy Morton speaks with Thomas Nicholas, who is staying at her home, in Oakland on May 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The arrangements have not always been easy. Helping people rarely is, but Morton continues doing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day, she was driving through an alley near the Wendy’s on Broadway when she ran into Michael, an unhoused man she knows from the neighborhood. Morton had $19 in her purse, and she needed $10 later that day to play bridge. She gave Michael $9.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He said, ‘Do you want me to take care of William?’” Morton said. “And I thought, this is why I like this guy, because he’s going to give something to William.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scene captured something Morton has spent much of her life practicing: people survive because other people decide they matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The thing people can’t afford to lose is one another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>How We Get By\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>full series here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When KQED launched \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">How We Get By\u003c/a>, its affordability project, I immediately thought of my friend and neighbor Nancy Morton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We see the faces of the affordability crisis everywhere in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are the parents \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081761/in-the-bay-area-raising-kids-comes-with-compromise\">squeezing bunk beds into cramped bedrooms\u003c/a>. They are the workers \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081761/in-the-bay-area-raising-kids-comes-with-compromise\">staring at retirement accounts\u003c/a> that seem increasingly fragile. They are the drivers watching gas prices spin higher, turning the simple act of getting to work into \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081471/driving-in-the-bay-area-is-essential-for-many-its-only-gotten-more-expensive\">another monthly calculation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are also the 91-year-old woman who opens her mail to discover her \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079706/theyre-bleeding-us-dry-seniors-struggle-with-rent-hikes-evictions-in-california-mobile-home-parks\">mobile home has become unaffordable\u003c/a>, and the young worker \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080289/700-a-month-sleeping-pods-make-sf-more-affordable-but-at-what-cost\">sleeping behind a privacy curtain\u003c/a> in a room full of strangers because $700 for a pod is the price of staying in San Francisco. In a region where everyday expenses seem to rise without end, immigrant-owned taquerias, bánh mì shops and noodle counters remain places \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13989331/best-cheap-affordable-restaurant-meals-bay-area-oakland-sf\">where a few dollars can still buy comfort\u003c/a>, community and a full stomach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taken together, these stories reveal a region where many people are no longer trying to get ahead — they are trying to stay put.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outside of the Rockridge branch of the Oakland Public Library, an unhoused man named William usually sits in the shade. Everything he owns travels with him. A wheelchair serves as a storage unit. Several carry-on suitcases are strapped to it. A bulging white trash bag rises above the luggage like a sail. The carefully balanced collection resembles a small movable room — the visible evidence of a life deciding what can be carried and what must be left behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent afternoon, Morton stopped to talk with William. She asked how he was doing. She offered to wash his laundry. I wave at William just about every day on my way home from BART. Most people walk past him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12084091\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12084091\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-17-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-17-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-17-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-17-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nancy Morton speaks with her unhoused neighbor, William, while walking through her neighborhood in Oakland on May 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area’s affordability crisis is usually measured in dollars — home prices, rents, grocery bills and retirement accounts. But affordability shapes more than bank balances. It influences who stays, who leaves and how much people are willing to invest in one another. Morton has responded to those pressures by opening her home to friends, unhoused people and refugees, hosting dinners and pressing city leaders on housing and public safety. In a region where rising costs increasingly isolate people from one another, Morton has chosen a different response: She has doubled down on community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I first met Morton when she invited me to dinner in 2016, back when I was a \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> columnist. Our typical conversation is about politics, life and books. I still can’t believe we disagreed about \u003cem>The Vanishing Half\u003c/em>, Brit Bennett’s novel about colorism, identity and the choices people make to survive. Like most conversations with Morton, the disagreement remained friendly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She is a Rockridge fixture, always up for coffee at Im Moment Kaffee or Hudson Bay Cafe, where she occasionally meets dates. She participates in events at the Local Economy community space on College Avenue and rarely misses an opportunity to connect with people.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>On a recent evening, pork sizzled on the stove inside Morton’s home while thick string beans softened in a pan nearby. Cheesy potatoes sat beneath foil. Sherbet waited in the freezer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morton moved through the kitchen in socks, checking the oven while carrying on our conversation. That night, we talked about retirement, housing and what it means to grow older in one of the most expensive places in America. We talked about core strength, too — the kind developed through exercise and persistence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That conversation set the foundation for this story. Because when I think about Morton, I think about someone constantly exercising a different kind of muscle: the willingness to remain engaged in a city where many people feel exhausted, priced out or disconnected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For 35 years, Morton, 78, has lived in the same Rockridge house. Every morning begins with the same command to Alexa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Play KQED.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morton is comfortably settled. She owns a home in one of Oakland’s most desirable neighborhoods and spent decades working in financial services and nonprofit finance. She plays bridge and is approaching Life Master status. She sometimes wears silver glitter nail polish because, as she likes to say, “your hands are always in front of people.” She follows local politics closely, attends lectures and performances and still drives the same car she bought in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years ago, someone hit it on her way to yoga and drove off. Then, a few months ago, a man living in his car with his family offered to pound out the dent in a Home Depot parking lot. Morton later tracked him down and paid for a hotel room for his family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12084088\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12084088\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-07-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-07-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-07-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-07-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nancy Morton looks at notes left for her by people who have stayed in her home in Oakland on May 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’d rather do that than give to charities where I feel like the executives make all the money,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morton understands that affordability is about more than money. Like many Oakland residents, she is concerned about public safety. She spends time on Nextdoor, where the trending topics often involve crime, missing pets, suspicious activity caught on door cams, spam phone calls and requests for help from neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The comments make me so angry,” she told me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078769/oakland-crime-plunges-in-2026-but-many-residents-havent-felt-the-shift\">Crime is down in Oakland\u003c/a>. Violent crime, including homicide and rape, fell 22% during the first quarter compared with the same period in 2025. Homicides alone dropped 39%. The impacts remain uneven.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many residents, concerns about quality of life extend beyond crime to include housing costs, homelessness and the growing sense that the Bay Area is becoming harder to afford and harder to navigate. Those concerns surface frequently in Rockridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12084094\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12084094\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-24-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-24-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-24-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-24-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nancy Morton chats with a UC Berkeley student on the bus ride to sign up for a class at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Berkeley on May 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, plans for a 200-unit apartment building drew criticism from residents who argued the seven-story structure would be too tall. Years earlier, neighbors opposed a proposal to redevelop the former California College of the Arts campus with 600 homes, including a 19-story tower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now another debate looms over College Avenue. The Trader Joe’s that anchors one of Rockridge’s busiest commercial corridors could eventually be replaced by two residential towers containing 400 senior housing units. Supporters see desperately needed housing near transit. Critics worry about scale, traffic and neighborhood character.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morton follows the arguments closely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I tend to see myself more as a moderator than an activist,” she said. “I want to hear from the people who support these projects, too. Why do they want them? What am I missing?”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That instinct to understand people before judging them has shaped much of her life. Morton grew up in Pasadena, where the Tournament of Roses paraded through town every New Year’s Day. As a teenager, she saw the Beatles perform in Glendale and later attended a Rolling Stones concert in Sacramento. Neither memory impresses her very much today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not that into that kind of music,” she said. “I’m into protest music. I’d much rather go see Joni Mitchell.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After college, she spent five months traveling through Europe before returning home, convinced she could not spend the rest of her life in Pasadena. There were no glamorous opportunities waiting for her. She waited tables at Denny’s. She worked temporary jobs in Oakland. She accepted a position with an airline that folded before training ever began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, she answered a newspaper ad for a house parent for girls who were wards of the court. Some had survived abuse. Others had been abandoned by their families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was 23 years old and suddenly responsible for five girls,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The work overwhelmed Morton, and she left after a year. But the connection endured. One of those girls still keeps in touch decades later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The through line is hard to miss. Morton has spent much of her life finding people who need someplace to land. Years later, that instinct resurfaced when she began opening her home to refugees. One was Messia, a woman from Afghanistan. Thomas, whom Morton met while volunteering at Crossroads Transitional Shelter in East Oakland, now lives in the backyard she-shed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12084087\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12084087\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260514-AFFORDABILITYNANCYMORTON-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nancy Morton speaks with Thomas Nicholas, who is staying at her home, in Oakland on May 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The arrangements have not always been easy. Helping people rarely is, but Morton continues doing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day, she was driving through an alley near the Wendy’s on Broadway when she ran into Michael, an unhoused man she knows from the neighborhood. Morton had $19 in her purse, and she needed $10 later that day to play bridge. She gave Michael $9.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He said, ‘Do you want me to take care of William?’” Morton said. “And I thought, this is why I like this guy, because he’s going to give something to William.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scene captured something Morton has spent much of her life practicing: people survive because other people decide they matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The thing people can’t afford to lose is one another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "a-california-housing-bill-would-raise-wages-to-28-why-do-some-unions-hate-it",
"title": "A California Housing Bill Would Raise Wages to $28. Why Do Some Unions Hate It?",
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"headTitle": "A California Housing Bill Would Raise Wages to $28. Why Do Some Unions Hate It? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When is a minimum \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/wages\">wage hike\u003c/a> of more than $11 per hour actually a pay cut?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That question has dominated the debate over a current \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1751\">California housing bill\u003c/a> that has riven the state’s two most powerful construction worker unions and many state legislative Democrats reluctant to get on the wrong side of either group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1751\">Assembly Bill 1751\u003c/a>, authored by Fullerton Democrat Sharon Quirk-Silva, would kick aside regulatory barriers to building townhouses — tightly clustered, multistory homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In exchange for this fast-tracked approval process, townhouse developers would be required to pay their workers at least $28 per hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a significant pay bump over the statewide minimum wage of $16.90.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the fiercest opposition to the bill has come from what might seem like an unexpected source: The State Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella organization that represents electricians, plumbers, sheet metal workers and other skilled construction trade unions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072538\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072538\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers continue building units at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. The interim housing site is expected to house up to 200 people. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The trades — as the council is colloquially known — argue that the new wage floor could have the paradoxical side-effect of driving down the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-construction-workers-housing-20170512-htmlstory.html\">prevailing wages\u003c/a>” enjoyed by many of their members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prevailing wages are mandatory minimum pay rates for publicly-funded or supported construction projects, which include many affordable housing developments and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/04/california-housing-law-union-dispute-2/\">other projects\u003c/a> propelled forward by recent state law in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State and federal regulators set prevailing rates based on surveys of the most common wages in each field and geographic area. Because union pay scales can cover hundreds of similarly employed workers, those union-level wages often set the prevailing wage.[aside postID=news_12086113 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/StonecutterGetty.jpg']In a testy debate on the Assembly floor earlier this month, Quirk-Silva stressed — repeatedly — that the bill would in no way affect the state-set wage rates. “It does not replace prevailing wage,” she said. “It does not undercut prevailing wage. This bill leaves prevailing wage exactly where it stands in current law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trades aren’t buying it, noting that the federal government sets its own rates for federally-supported projects. But the group’s bigger beef may boil down to precedent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, the building trades have battled any legislation aimed at easing regulations on the construction of new housing unless it also included pro-union guarantees. Those are either union-level prevailing wage pay requirements or, in more recent years, even more restrictive “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2021/06/california-affordable-housing-unions/\">skilled and trained\u003c/a>” rules that require developers to hire apprenticeship program graduates, the vast majority of whom are union members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quirk-Silva’s townhouse streamlining bill introduces a new standard: a minimum wage far lower than what most trades members already make.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Making a meager minimum wage hike the new bone that pro-housing bills throw to construction workers would “signify the new norm,” said Chris Hannan, president of the Trades Council. “When you start a trend of doing a minimum wage, then that becomes the new go-to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The trades and carpenters, at it again\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Standing on the other side of the debate, supporting the new wage standard, are California’s unionized carpenters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trades battling the carpenters is a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/07/california-construction-unions-housing/\">familiar face-off in Sacramento\u003c/a>. This isn’t even the first time the groups have publicly locked horns over this specific wage proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last summer, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2022/05/california-housing-crisis-unions/\">longtime ally\u003c/a> of the carpenters, inserted residential construction worker minimum wage of between $28 and $40 per hour \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/06/prevailing-wage-construction-california-ab130/\">into a budget bill\u003c/a> in the final hours of the fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044982\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044982\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers build at 750 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco on June 18, 2025, during a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Aside from high-rise construction developments where the use of steel and concrete tend to draw more specialized workers, unions represent relatively few laborers who build California homes, the carpenters argued at the time. The new wage standard would be a modest corrective for those non-union laborers whose current wage floor is the state minimum wage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, carpenters union leaders have argued that improving working standards for low-wage workers presents an “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/04/california-housing-law-union-dispute-2/\">organizing opportunity\u003c/a>” for the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trades were apoplectic. Dozens of union members crowded in the budget bill hearing to decry what they saw as an anti-union reversal of state labor policy. One representative likened the measure to \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/25/california-democrats-stage-intraparty-war-over-last-minute-push-to-build-more-housing-00425196\">“Jim Crow” laws\u003c/a>. Many labor-friendly Democrats on the committee recoiled; the proposal was shelved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, the idea has been given a bit more time for debate, though the trades and some lawmakers have still complained of a process they see as rushed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Quirk-Silva’s bill was introduced in early February, it focused solely on townhouse regulations. The wage language was added only in time for its second committee hearing in late April. (Quirk-Silva’s staff declined to make her available for an interview to explain that delay or discuss the bill in general, citing personal family matters. On the Assembly floor, she explained the late addition in part by noting “severe health issues” among staff and family members.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then the entirety of the legislative debate has been focused on the wage issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12076525\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12076525\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference at the Friendship House Association of American Indians in San Francisco on Jan. 16, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That itself is a notable development: The bill exempts the construction of townhomes from both environmental review and the jurisdiction of elected local city councils and planning boards. Just a few years ago, such a proposal would have made for a capitol-shaking, headline-grabbing fight. But a year after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/06/ceqa-urban-development-infill-budget/\">exempting most urban housing\u003c/a> developments from environmental litigation, the land-use implications appear to be an afterthought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At an Assembly floor vote last month, San Diego Assemblymember Chris Ward referred to the minimum wage issue as the “900 pound gorilla.” He, like many Democrats who spoke on the bill, said that he supported the legislation in general, but that he remained wary of the “unresolved” questions about how the new wage rate would affect existing labor standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill needed 41 out of 80 “yes” votes to move onto the Senate. It passed with just 47.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Hike or pay cut?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Quirk-Silva’s office tried to get around the prevailing wage fight early on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prevailing wages are required of publicly funded works, including many affordable housing projects. They are set by the California Department of Industrial Relations, which sets its rates based on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/FAQ_PrevailingWage.html#q1\">most common wage\u003c/a> for each job type in each region of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quirk-Silva’s bill specifically bars the state department from taking the new $28 per hour townhome wages into account when running those calculations, lest a glut of townhome builders inadvertently bring down the wages owed to union roofers and plumbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12059484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12059484\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A construction worker operates machinery to move dirt at the site of new middle housing units at 2824 D Street in Sacramento on October 7, 2025. Developers are reviving “middle housing” such as duplexes and cottage clusters, but say California’s rollout of the new rules has been anything but smooth. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The trades aren’t satisfied with that concession. That’s because the federal government conducts its own wage surveys and set its own prevailing wage for federally-funded infrastructure projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current federal prevailing wage required for a residential roofer in Sacramento, for example, is \u003ca href=\"https://sam.gov/wage-determination/CA20260019/5\">$46.73 per hour\u003c/a> plus benefits. That number is based on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/government-contracts/construction/faq#23\">most common wage paid\u003c/a> for that job in the area or — if no single rate is paid to at least 30% of the workers in the survey — on the regional average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The federal government won’t give a rat’s ass about what this bill says,” Scott Wetch, a lobbyist for Trades-affiliated unions, said at the bill’s April hearing. “And they will set the prevailing wage rate for all the crafts at $28.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trades “have a case” in this argument, said Kevin Duncan, an economist at Colorado State University Pueblo who has studied prevailing wage policy’s effect on construction costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imagine a smaller market with a relatively low unionization rate. If the bill uncorked a geyser of contractors paying all their low-wage workers exactly $28 per hour, “that would be the prevailing rate — and with zero benefits,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Backers of the bill dispute that, saying such a specific outcome is unlikely given how many contractors are likely to use this specific townhouse bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also argue that vanishingly few residential roofers do federal public works jobs in Sacramento — or anywhere in California — so changes in the federal prevailing wage for residential projects aren’t likely to affect many workers anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12081535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12081535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260427-CONSTRUCTIONWORKERS-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260427-CONSTRUCTIONWORKERS-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260427-CONSTRUCTIONWORKERS-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260427-CONSTRUCTIONWORKERS-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers and supporters march through Oakland to the Lion Creek Crossings, an affordable housing complex, on April 27, 2026, as part of a demonstration calling for more than $300,000 in unpaid wages from Bay Area contractors Milestone Roofing and Saarman Construction. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Instead, most roofers are non-union on privately-funded projects and many are being paid less than $28 per hour, said Danny Curtin, director of the California Council of Carpenters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To say that raising those wages “will actually bring everybody else’s wages down, defies comprehension,” he said at the hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2026/06/ab-1751-trades-carpenters-fight/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "This is just the latest spat between two rival construction unions over the future of California housing policy.",
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"title": "A California Housing Bill Would Raise Wages to $28. Why Do Some Unions Hate It? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When is a minimum \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/wages\">wage hike\u003c/a> of more than $11 per hour actually a pay cut?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That question has dominated the debate over a current \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1751\">California housing bill\u003c/a> that has riven the state’s two most powerful construction worker unions and many state legislative Democrats reluctant to get on the wrong side of either group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1751\">Assembly Bill 1751\u003c/a>, authored by Fullerton Democrat Sharon Quirk-Silva, would kick aside regulatory barriers to building townhouses — tightly clustered, multistory homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In exchange for this fast-tracked approval process, townhouse developers would be required to pay their workers at least $28 per hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a significant pay bump over the statewide minimum wage of $16.90.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the fiercest opposition to the bill has come from what might seem like an unexpected source: The State Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella organization that represents electricians, plumbers, sheet metal workers and other skilled construction trade unions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072538\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072538\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers continue building units at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. The interim housing site is expected to house up to 200 people. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The trades — as the council is colloquially known — argue that the new wage floor could have the paradoxical side-effect of driving down the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-construction-workers-housing-20170512-htmlstory.html\">prevailing wages\u003c/a>” enjoyed by many of their members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prevailing wages are mandatory minimum pay rates for publicly-funded or supported construction projects, which include many affordable housing developments and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/04/california-housing-law-union-dispute-2/\">other projects\u003c/a> propelled forward by recent state law in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State and federal regulators set prevailing rates based on surveys of the most common wages in each field and geographic area. Because union pay scales can cover hundreds of similarly employed workers, those union-level wages often set the prevailing wage.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In a testy debate on the Assembly floor earlier this month, Quirk-Silva stressed — repeatedly — that the bill would in no way affect the state-set wage rates. “It does not replace prevailing wage,” she said. “It does not undercut prevailing wage. This bill leaves prevailing wage exactly where it stands in current law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trades aren’t buying it, noting that the federal government sets its own rates for federally-supported projects. But the group’s bigger beef may boil down to precedent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, the building trades have battled any legislation aimed at easing regulations on the construction of new housing unless it also included pro-union guarantees. Those are either union-level prevailing wage pay requirements or, in more recent years, even more restrictive “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2021/06/california-affordable-housing-unions/\">skilled and trained\u003c/a>” rules that require developers to hire apprenticeship program graduates, the vast majority of whom are union members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quirk-Silva’s townhouse streamlining bill introduces a new standard: a minimum wage far lower than what most trades members already make.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Making a meager minimum wage hike the new bone that pro-housing bills throw to construction workers would “signify the new norm,” said Chris Hannan, president of the Trades Council. “When you start a trend of doing a minimum wage, then that becomes the new go-to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The trades and carpenters, at it again\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Standing on the other side of the debate, supporting the new wage standard, are California’s unionized carpenters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trades battling the carpenters is a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/07/california-construction-unions-housing/\">familiar face-off in Sacramento\u003c/a>. This isn’t even the first time the groups have publicly locked horns over this specific wage proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last summer, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2022/05/california-housing-crisis-unions/\">longtime ally\u003c/a> of the carpenters, inserted residential construction worker minimum wage of between $28 and $40 per hour \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/06/prevailing-wage-construction-california-ab130/\">into a budget bill\u003c/a> in the final hours of the fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044982\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044982\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers build at 750 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco on June 18, 2025, during a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Aside from high-rise construction developments where the use of steel and concrete tend to draw more specialized workers, unions represent relatively few laborers who build California homes, the carpenters argued at the time. The new wage standard would be a modest corrective for those non-union laborers whose current wage floor is the state minimum wage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, carpenters union leaders have argued that improving working standards for low-wage workers presents an “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/04/california-housing-law-union-dispute-2/\">organizing opportunity\u003c/a>” for the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trades were apoplectic. Dozens of union members crowded in the budget bill hearing to decry what they saw as an anti-union reversal of state labor policy. One representative likened the measure to \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/25/california-democrats-stage-intraparty-war-over-last-minute-push-to-build-more-housing-00425196\">“Jim Crow” laws\u003c/a>. Many labor-friendly Democrats on the committee recoiled; the proposal was shelved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, the idea has been given a bit more time for debate, though the trades and some lawmakers have still complained of a process they see as rushed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Quirk-Silva’s bill was introduced in early February, it focused solely on townhouse regulations. The wage language was added only in time for its second committee hearing in late April. (Quirk-Silva’s staff declined to make her available for an interview to explain that delay or discuss the bill in general, citing personal family matters. On the Assembly floor, she explained the late addition in part by noting “severe health issues” among staff and family members.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then the entirety of the legislative debate has been focused on the wage issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12076525\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12076525\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference at the Friendship House Association of American Indians in San Francisco on Jan. 16, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That itself is a notable development: The bill exempts the construction of townhomes from both environmental review and the jurisdiction of elected local city councils and planning boards. Just a few years ago, such a proposal would have made for a capitol-shaking, headline-grabbing fight. But a year after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/06/ceqa-urban-development-infill-budget/\">exempting most urban housing\u003c/a> developments from environmental litigation, the land-use implications appear to be an afterthought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At an Assembly floor vote last month, San Diego Assemblymember Chris Ward referred to the minimum wage issue as the “900 pound gorilla.” He, like many Democrats who spoke on the bill, said that he supported the legislation in general, but that he remained wary of the “unresolved” questions about how the new wage rate would affect existing labor standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill needed 41 out of 80 “yes” votes to move onto the Senate. It passed with just 47.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Hike or pay cut?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Quirk-Silva’s office tried to get around the prevailing wage fight early on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prevailing wages are required of publicly funded works, including many affordable housing projects. They are set by the California Department of Industrial Relations, which sets its rates based on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/FAQ_PrevailingWage.html#q1\">most common wage\u003c/a> for each job type in each region of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quirk-Silva’s bill specifically bars the state department from taking the new $28 per hour townhome wages into account when running those calculations, lest a glut of townhome builders inadvertently bring down the wages owed to union roofers and plumbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12059484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12059484\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A construction worker operates machinery to move dirt at the site of new middle housing units at 2824 D Street in Sacramento on October 7, 2025. Developers are reviving “middle housing” such as duplexes and cottage clusters, but say California’s rollout of the new rules has been anything but smooth. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The trades aren’t satisfied with that concession. That’s because the federal government conducts its own wage surveys and set its own prevailing wage for federally-funded infrastructure projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current federal prevailing wage required for a residential roofer in Sacramento, for example, is \u003ca href=\"https://sam.gov/wage-determination/CA20260019/5\">$46.73 per hour\u003c/a> plus benefits. That number is based on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/government-contracts/construction/faq#23\">most common wage paid\u003c/a> for that job in the area or — if no single rate is paid to at least 30% of the workers in the survey — on the regional average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The federal government won’t give a rat’s ass about what this bill says,” Scott Wetch, a lobbyist for Trades-affiliated unions, said at the bill’s April hearing. “And they will set the prevailing wage rate for all the crafts at $28.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trades “have a case” in this argument, said Kevin Duncan, an economist at Colorado State University Pueblo who has studied prevailing wage policy’s effect on construction costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imagine a smaller market with a relatively low unionization rate. If the bill uncorked a geyser of contractors paying all their low-wage workers exactly $28 per hour, “that would be the prevailing rate — and with zero benefits,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Backers of the bill dispute that, saying such a specific outcome is unlikely given how many contractors are likely to use this specific townhouse bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also argue that vanishingly few residential roofers do federal public works jobs in Sacramento — or anywhere in California — so changes in the federal prevailing wage for residential projects aren’t likely to affect many workers anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12081535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12081535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260427-CONSTRUCTIONWORKERS-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260427-CONSTRUCTIONWORKERS-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260427-CONSTRUCTIONWORKERS-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260427-CONSTRUCTIONWORKERS-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers and supporters march through Oakland to the Lion Creek Crossings, an affordable housing complex, on April 27, 2026, as part of a demonstration calling for more than $300,000 in unpaid wages from Bay Area contractors Milestone Roofing and Saarman Construction. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Instead, most roofers are non-union on privately-funded projects and many are being paid less than $28 per hour, said Danny Curtin, director of the California Council of Carpenters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To say that raising those wages “will actually bring everybody else’s wages down, defies comprehension,” he said at the hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2026/06/ab-1751-trades-carpenters-fight/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Amid Opposition, California Regulators Approve Major Changes To Cap-And-Trade Program",
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"content": "\u003cp>In a controversial move, state regulators on Friday approved major changes to California’s cap-and-invest program at a lengthy board meeting that transpired over the course of two days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted to create a $4 billion fund for big polluters to invest in \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2026-04/nc-MDIF%20FAQ_April%202026.pdf\">decarbonization projects\u003c/a>. Climate, affordable housing and transit advocates, however, worry the move might mean significantly less money for their programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom lauded the effort, saying it advances affordability while keeping the state on track to meet its climate targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s nation-leading cap-and-invest program has proven that we can cut pollution, create jobs, and invest in a cleaner future at the same time,” he wrote. “These are real results that Californians can see and feel.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators said they were doing their best to strike a balance that also keeps oil and gas companies viable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>There is no direction to us, as an agency, to maximize one trade-off versus another,” said Rajinder Sahota, deputy executive officer for climate change and research at CARB. “What we’re trying to do is balance all of the pieces that we’re getting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053871\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053871\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-03_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-03_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-03_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-03_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for a petroleum pipeline in Richmond on Aug. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The vote comes months after the board faced pressure from the oil and gas industry, which warned that compliance with current rules would drive them out of California and increase energy prices. The war in Iran has sent gas prices soaring to \u003ca href=\"https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=CA\">over $6 a gallon\u003c/a> in California, and in the past six months, two \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000877/californias-fuel-fears-threaten-benicias-just-transition-to-green-economy\">refineries\u003c/a> have closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, climate, housing and transit advocates argued they also face an uncertain future with cuts from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073333/trump-scraps-a-cornerstone-climate-finding-as-california-prepares-for-court\">federal government\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069177/newsoms-final-budget-disappoints-housing-homeless-advocates\">tightening state budgets\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adam Smith, with Southern California Edison, told regulators the proposal was the “most direct and substantial affordability action for electric customers this year and likely for years to come.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think the overall proposal strikes the right balance between affordability and stringency to keep us on track for our shared climate goals,” he said.[aside postID=news_12037646 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-09_qed.jpg']California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040286/how-california-cap-and-trade-works-and-how-newsom-wants-to-change-it\">cap-and-invest\u003c/a> program currently works similarly to a carbon tax: It sets a cap on the amount of greenhouse gases oil refineries, steel and paper factories, cement plants and other big polluters are allowed to emit. Every year, the cap lowers, helping the state meet its ambitious goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/11/16/california-releases-worlds-first-plan-to-achieve-net-zero-carbon-pollution/\">40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 85% below 1990 levels\u003c/a> by 2045.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators issue credits, or allowances, to companies for every ton of greenhouse gases they emit. Allowances are then sold to companies at auctions held four times a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The revenue generated from those auctions goes into California’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which has collected more than $31 billion since its first auction in 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, CARB proposed dramatically lowering the number of allowances so the state could stay on track to meet its climate goals by 2030. Fewer allowances would have theoretically resulted in higher prices at auctions and potentially more money for the GGRF.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But leaders from the oil and gas industry pushed back on that proposal, warning that cutting too much, too quickly would lead to higher prices for consumers, especially at a time of market volatility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12032370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12032370\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/475966196_17941090172958161_4612211217959910985_n-e1738464480621.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"996\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/475966196_17941090172958161_4612211217959910985_n-e1738464480621.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/475966196_17941090172958161_4612211217959910985_n-e1738464480621-800x553.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/475966196_17941090172958161_4612211217959910985_n-e1738464480621-1020x706.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/475966196_17941090172958161_4612211217959910985_n-e1738464480621-160x111.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Contra Costa County Fire Department firefighters outside the Martinez Refining Company as smoke billows from the refinery on Feb. 2, 2025, in Martinez. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Contra Costa County Fire Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In April, regulators returned with a new proposal to create a first-of-its-kind program called the \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2026-04/nc-MDIF%20FAQ_April%202026.pdf\">Manufacturing Decarbonization Incentive \u003c/a>(MDI), which would offer back those allowances if the polluting companies invest in decarbonization projects, such as replacing fossil-fuel-powered equipment with clean alternatives, working on carbon sequestration, methane reduction, and other projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But climate, affordable housing and transit advocates are skeptical as to whether those projects will truly materialize. They also worry that this new program could lower the value of allowances at auction, potentially resulting in less money for GGRF programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the state’s high-speed rail program is the largest recipient of the current GGRF funds, 20% goes towards the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program, which provides grants and loans for affordable housing projects near public transit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Thursday’s public comment period, which lasted eight hours, Natalie Spivak, an advocate with nonprofit Housing California, pointed out that the program is the state’s largest ongoing source of funding for affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“AHSC has an incredible track record of producing over \u003ca href=\"https://sgc.ca.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/06-13/\">22,000 affordable homes\u003c/a>, creating jobs, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” she said. “Increasing allowances to oil and gas companies without any guarantee that consumer prices will fall is not the way to create affordability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Transit agencies voiced concerns, too. Fifteen percent of the GGRF goes towards a variety of public transit programs and agencies. According to officials from the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency, it has received more than $600 million in cap-and-invest funding since 2015. That has gone into replacing light rail vehicles and improving transit service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beverly Greene, chief government affairs officer for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, said the change could eliminate funding to support construction of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12053738/bart-slams-vta-for-cost-cutting-secrecy-in-12-7b-silicon-valley-extension\">BART Silicon Valley extension project\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We respectfully urge you to oppose the proposed program changes and instead protect the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund programs,” she said at the meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But regulators pushed back, arguing that the new decarbonization program might not dramatically lower funds for the GGRF. They also argued that the legislature controls where those GGRF funds go, not them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12051898\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12051898\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250623-VTAWESTPORTAL-JG-4_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250623-VTAWESTPORTAL-JG-4_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250623-VTAWESTPORTAL-JG-4_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250623-VTAWESTPORTAL-JG-4_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An excavator operator moves material during early work on VTA’s BART to Silicon Valley Phase II Extension project at the West Portal construction site in San José on June 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Nothing that we’re doing here is setting the priority for how the legislature may decide to appropriate funds,” Sahota said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before voting on the measure, CARB members agreed to include an amendment requiring a vote to review the decarbonization projects before the allowances are issued to companies. Another amendment directed CARB staff to talk to the governor’s office about the importance of sustained funding for public transit and affordable housing programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, many are concerned about what the vote could mean for the future of funding for affordable housing, climate programs and transportation. Following the vote, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie urged the board to reconsider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This decision puts our efforts to save transit, build affordable housing and drive our economic recovery at risk,” he said in an emailed statement. “Since that work helps achieve our emissions goals, those goals will be jeopardized, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In a controversial move, state regulators on Friday approved major changes to California’s cap-and-invest program at a lengthy board meeting that transpired over the course of two days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted to create a $4 billion fund for big polluters to invest in \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2026-04/nc-MDIF%20FAQ_April%202026.pdf\">decarbonization projects\u003c/a>. Climate, affordable housing and transit advocates, however, worry the move might mean significantly less money for their programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom lauded the effort, saying it advances affordability while keeping the state on track to meet its climate targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s nation-leading cap-and-invest program has proven that we can cut pollution, create jobs, and invest in a cleaner future at the same time,” he wrote. “These are real results that Californians can see and feel.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators said they were doing their best to strike a balance that also keeps oil and gas companies viable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>There is no direction to us, as an agency, to maximize one trade-off versus another,” said Rajinder Sahota, deputy executive officer for climate change and research at CARB. “What we’re trying to do is balance all of the pieces that we’re getting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053871\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053871\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-03_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-03_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-03_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-03_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for a petroleum pipeline in Richmond on Aug. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The vote comes months after the board faced pressure from the oil and gas industry, which warned that compliance with current rules would drive them out of California and increase energy prices. The war in Iran has sent gas prices soaring to \u003ca href=\"https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=CA\">over $6 a gallon\u003c/a> in California, and in the past six months, two \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000877/californias-fuel-fears-threaten-benicias-just-transition-to-green-economy\">refineries\u003c/a> have closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, climate, housing and transit advocates argued they also face an uncertain future with cuts from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073333/trump-scraps-a-cornerstone-climate-finding-as-california-prepares-for-court\">federal government\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069177/newsoms-final-budget-disappoints-housing-homeless-advocates\">tightening state budgets\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adam Smith, with Southern California Edison, told regulators the proposal was the “most direct and substantial affordability action for electric customers this year and likely for years to come.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think the overall proposal strikes the right balance between affordability and stringency to keep us on track for our shared climate goals,” he said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040286/how-california-cap-and-trade-works-and-how-newsom-wants-to-change-it\">cap-and-invest\u003c/a> program currently works similarly to a carbon tax: It sets a cap on the amount of greenhouse gases oil refineries, steel and paper factories, cement plants and other big polluters are allowed to emit. Every year, the cap lowers, helping the state meet its ambitious goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/11/16/california-releases-worlds-first-plan-to-achieve-net-zero-carbon-pollution/\">40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 85% below 1990 levels\u003c/a> by 2045.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators issue credits, or allowances, to companies for every ton of greenhouse gases they emit. Allowances are then sold to companies at auctions held four times a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The revenue generated from those auctions goes into California’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which has collected more than $31 billion since its first auction in 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, CARB proposed dramatically lowering the number of allowances so the state could stay on track to meet its climate goals by 2030. Fewer allowances would have theoretically resulted in higher prices at auctions and potentially more money for the GGRF.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But leaders from the oil and gas industry pushed back on that proposal, warning that cutting too much, too quickly would lead to higher prices for consumers, especially at a time of market volatility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12032370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12032370\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/475966196_17941090172958161_4612211217959910985_n-e1738464480621.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"996\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/475966196_17941090172958161_4612211217959910985_n-e1738464480621.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/475966196_17941090172958161_4612211217959910985_n-e1738464480621-800x553.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/475966196_17941090172958161_4612211217959910985_n-e1738464480621-1020x706.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/475966196_17941090172958161_4612211217959910985_n-e1738464480621-160x111.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Contra Costa County Fire Department firefighters outside the Martinez Refining Company as smoke billows from the refinery on Feb. 2, 2025, in Martinez. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Contra Costa County Fire Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In April, regulators returned with a new proposal to create a first-of-its-kind program called the \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2026-04/nc-MDIF%20FAQ_April%202026.pdf\">Manufacturing Decarbonization Incentive \u003c/a>(MDI), which would offer back those allowances if the polluting companies invest in decarbonization projects, such as replacing fossil-fuel-powered equipment with clean alternatives, working on carbon sequestration, methane reduction, and other projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But climate, affordable housing and transit advocates are skeptical as to whether those projects will truly materialize. They also worry that this new program could lower the value of allowances at auction, potentially resulting in less money for GGRF programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the state’s high-speed rail program is the largest recipient of the current GGRF funds, 20% goes towards the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program, which provides grants and loans for affordable housing projects near public transit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Thursday’s public comment period, which lasted eight hours, Natalie Spivak, an advocate with nonprofit Housing California, pointed out that the program is the state’s largest ongoing source of funding for affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“AHSC has an incredible track record of producing over \u003ca href=\"https://sgc.ca.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/06-13/\">22,000 affordable homes\u003c/a>, creating jobs, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” she said. “Increasing allowances to oil and gas companies without any guarantee that consumer prices will fall is not the way to create affordability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Transit agencies voiced concerns, too. Fifteen percent of the GGRF goes towards a variety of public transit programs and agencies. According to officials from the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency, it has received more than $600 million in cap-and-invest funding since 2015. That has gone into replacing light rail vehicles and improving transit service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beverly Greene, chief government affairs officer for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, said the change could eliminate funding to support construction of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12053738/bart-slams-vta-for-cost-cutting-secrecy-in-12-7b-silicon-valley-extension\">BART Silicon Valley extension project\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We respectfully urge you to oppose the proposed program changes and instead protect the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund programs,” she said at the meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But regulators pushed back, arguing that the new decarbonization program might not dramatically lower funds for the GGRF. They also argued that the legislature controls where those GGRF funds go, not them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12051898\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12051898\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250623-VTAWESTPORTAL-JG-4_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250623-VTAWESTPORTAL-JG-4_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250623-VTAWESTPORTAL-JG-4_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250623-VTAWESTPORTAL-JG-4_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An excavator operator moves material during early work on VTA’s BART to Silicon Valley Phase II Extension project at the West Portal construction site in San José on June 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Nothing that we’re doing here is setting the priority for how the legislature may decide to appropriate funds,” Sahota said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before voting on the measure, CARB members agreed to include an amendment requiring a vote to review the decarbonization projects before the allowances are issued to companies. Another amendment directed CARB staff to talk to the governor’s office about the importance of sustained funding for public transit and affordable housing programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, many are concerned about what the vote could mean for the future of funding for affordable housing, climate programs and transportation. Following the vote, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie urged the board to reconsider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This decision puts our efforts to save transit, build affordable housing and drive our economic recovery at risk,” he said in an emailed statement. “Since that work helps achieve our emissions goals, those goals will be jeopardized, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "even-some-tech-workers-cant-afford-to-stay-when-the-bay-is-this-expensive",
"title": "Even Some Tech Workers Can’t Afford to Stay When the Bay is This Expensive",
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"content": "\u003cp>Since the California Gold Rush, economic opportunities have drawn people to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">the Bay Area\u003c/a> from all over the world. But for just as long, the region’s boom-and-bust economy has made it impossible for others to stay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the 1990s, the tech industry has driven costs higher, but for some who work in the industry and haven’t struck IPO or AI gold, life in the Bay Area is not adding up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ani and Alex Vecchi, both software engineers, live in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley with their orange cat, Mushu. They haven’t been in the Bay Area long, but already, both aged 30, they’re starting to worry that the city they love may be too expensive for raising a family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Wogulis and Melanie Bowden, both 62, raised their family in Northern California, but a layoff made it impossible for them to stay. Last spring, they put their house in Berkeley on the market and drove to Santa Fe with a cat, Molly, and a chihuahua, Felice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers at Joint Venture Silicon Valley confirm what many already feel: the region’s economy is generating enormous wealth, but also growing impossibly unaffordable for most people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11970120\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2121px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11970120\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432.jpg\" alt=\"An aerial view of a city, with a large body of water in the bakground.\" width=\"2121\" height=\"1414\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432.jpg 2121w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2121px) 100vw, 2121px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of Redwood City. \u003ccite>(Sundry Photography via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even well-paid tech workers are being forced to choose between the Bay Area and the rest of their lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It distills to a few key points,” said Russell Hancock, President and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, at the organization’s annual State of the Valley conference in late February. “We have a very hot economy. It’s creating a lot of wealth. It’s not creating as many jobs. And our housing is too expensive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s creating \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078615/how-skyrocketing-housing-costs-and-policy-choices-reshaped-the-bay-area\">demographic churn\u003c/a> — young people move in while older folks move out.\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Ani and Alex\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ani and Alex Vecchi met about 10 years ago in physics class while studying software engineering at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She went into front-end, customer interface work. She’s now a senior software engineer for Banquet Health, a startup software platform for hospital meals. “Using tech for a good cause is huge for me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They came to the Bay Area in June of 2024 because Alex’s weather monitoring startup Sorcerer landed a \u003ca href=\"https://tracxn.com/d/companies/sorcerer/__iyp8-DoCQBPMaBMs4MjSSHaiRmAA4xVBX44YQJARrto\">$500,000 grant\u003c/a> from Y Combinator, the Silicon Valley accelerator that launched Airbnb, Dropbox and DoorDash. It was, in startup terms, a golden ticket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12085149\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12085149\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alex Vecchi and Mushu enjoy a sunny day in San Francisco’s Alamo Square. Alex and his wife, Ani, came to the city two years ago to pursue careers in tech. Now 30, the unaffordable housing market raises uncomfortable questions about whether and how they plan to raise children in the years to come. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Ani and Alex Vecchi)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Starting a company here, you have to do it here,” Alex said. The investors are here, or a short drive down the Peninsula. Scheduling a Zoom call? “It’s not the same,” he said. “Things spark here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sorcerer closed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2025/06/12/sorcerer-seed-weather-balloons\">$3.9 million seed round\u003c/a> last year. “That data is what powers, essentially, the forecasts on your phone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They have been having the time of their lives in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of greenery,” Ani said. “There’s a lot of people out and about. You have that drive [to succeed in business], but it’s also peaceful, in some ways.” They love walking and picnics and meals with friends. “There’s a lot going on here,” Ani said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The thing is, the Vechhis are starting to think about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075761/when-child-care-costs-half-a-paycheck-bay-area-parents-must-choose-kids-or-career\">having children\u003c/a>. But it’s complicated. They need both salaries, and both sets of parents, who could help them with childcare, live in Florida. And they’re not ready to make that move.[aside postID=news_12080289 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260420-SLEEP-PODS-MD-01-KQED_1.jpg']\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12061802/how-are-child-care-costs-affecting-the-lives-of-bay-area-families-you-told-us\">Rising child care costs in the Bay Area\u003c/a> are forcing parents to make painful tradeoffs, either by passing up career opportunities, cutting back work hours, or quitting altogether. For families with multiple young children, these expenses can surpass a parent’s entire salary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Vecchis also shy away from the idea of leaving San Francisco for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081761/in-the-bay-area-raising-kids-comes-with-compromise\">Bay Area suburb with nominally cheaper real estate\u003c/a>. “If we were to move out of the city, we might as well move back to Florida.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you gave me the option and I had the money, I would stay here 100%,” Alex said. And the family back in Florida? “They understand. They want us to be happy where we are. They know that we’re doing a bunch of great things here. When we think about moving back, we think, ‘But we’re not going to be happy over there.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research from \u003ca href=\"https://jointventure.org/news-and-media/blog/2790-a-region-in-motion-who-s-leaving-silicon-valley-and-why?mc_cid=4aada55384&mc_eid=9b006466f1\">Joint Venture Silicon Valley\u003c/a> provides statistical confirmation of personal experience. For years, the Bay Area has created jobs faster than it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11755545/google-pledges-1-billion-to-help-fight-bay-area-housing-crisis-it-helped-create\">builds housing\u003c/a>, fueling relentless price pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Silicon Valley, just 28% of Millennials own homes, compared to 68% of Baby Boomers, giving older residents an asset to rely on even in tough times. The Vecchis, like most people their age here, are still scrambling for a financial foothold, even though they both work in tech.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All these things have implications for community, and now we’re seeing it. We’re living it,” Hancock told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mark and Melanie\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In some ways, Ani and Alex Vecchi and Mark Wogulis and Melanie Bowden are living the same story twenty years apart. Young people arrive, fall in love with a place, build a life. Then something shifts, and the place that felt like home starts to feel like a problem to be solved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After decades in California, Mark Wogulis and Melanie Bowden felt the sting of leaving somewhere that felt like home. “It does hit differently,” Wogulis said, “when it’s not your choice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wogulis and Bowden met decades ago when they were teachers in San Francisco. He was teaching science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cj4-T9ovDc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was teaching math. They started a family. He pivoted from teaching to pharmaceuticals, then got a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pharmaceuticals and biotech are notoriously volatile, but he worked at Elan Pharmaceuticals in South San Francisco for nearly eight years, then at Novozymes in Davis for nearly 13.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From there, he moved to Amyris in Emeryville, which at the time specialized in developing sustainable alternatives for chemicals traditionally derived from petroleum or wildlife that were used in the beauty, flavor and fragrance industries. “Turned out everything they were selling, they were losing money on,” Wogulis said. “When the money ran out, they went bankrupt.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were three rounds of layoffs, but Wogulis remained optimistic. “I thought I had made it,” he said, because he hadn’t been laid off, even as the company went into and emerged from bankruptcy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then he got axed during a fourth round of layoffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, Wogulis thought he’d find another job, like he always had. But now in his 60s, his experience and longevity made him more expensive relative to other prospective employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079650\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079650\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-02-KQED.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-02-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-02-KQED-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Wogulis and Melanie Bowden in front of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco in 2022. A layoff in biotech forced the couple to sell their home in Berkeley and move to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in May of 2025. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Mark Wogulis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s no way to prove it, but there was no doubt in my mind that there was age discrimination involved,” Bowdon said. “He would be fully qualified for a job and hear nothing on many, many, many jobs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were people older than me at Amyris,” Wogulis said, “but not very many.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was also true that, thanks to LinkedIn and artificial intelligence, Wogulis was competing with biochemists from all over the world, many of them willing to relocate to the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, there just was nothing,” Wogulis said. “I applied for a bunch of stuff that either I was over- or under-qualified for. I mean, I got a couple of rejections. Most of them just went off into the void.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the layoff came, the couple was living in Berkeley, in a 1,570 square foot Craftsman-style home they bought after raising their family in Davis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We loved the location. So close to BART and bus stops, and lots of good restaurants within walking distance. I could bike to work. We also liked the charm of such an old house,” Wogulis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they crunched the numbers and realized they didn’t have much financial runway before they’d have to take off for someplace cheaper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We needed to get out of there. We couldn’t afford that house,” Bowden said. That’s how they decided to retire early at age 62 and move to Santa Fe, with their cat and dog in tow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The couple, born on the tail end of the Baby Boom, had the benefit of owning homes for much of their working lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proceeds from the sale of their house in Davis became the down payment for the house in Berkeley, so their mortgage was only $3,000 a month. Still, their utilities and property taxes added up to about $19,000 per year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They moved to Santa Fe knowing nobody but their real estate agents, who helped them find a house for $600,000— half what they paid in Berkeley, even though it’s roughly the same size. They don’t even have a mortgage, something that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11985468/map-what-you-need-to-earn-to-afford-a-median-priced-home-in-your-county-in-california\">seems wild\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101911013/tech-layoffs-and-higher-than-average-unemployment-a-close-look-at-the-bay-areas-job-market\">most Bay Area homeowners\u003c/a> today. The property taxes are smaller, too: about $4,000 per year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We did it out of necessity,” Wogulis said. “I would have felt a lot better if I’d totally chosen to come here, I didn’t feel \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11933511/mass-bay-area-tech-layoffs-thrust-thousands-of-h-1b-visa-holders-into-frantic-job-hunt\">under the gun\u003c/a> to do something. Yeah, that was difficult. It does hit differently when it’s…” he said, giving Bowden a chance to finish his sentence, the way longtime partners often do. “…When it’s not your choice. We had to move. We had to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12045711\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12045711\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250623-BerkeleyMiddleHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250623-BerkeleyMiddleHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250623-BerkeleyMiddleHousing-18-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250623-BerkeleyMiddleHousing-18-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A “For Rent” sign in Berkeley on June 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You know, there’s people I miss, definitely,” Bowden said. “Our neighbors are very nice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just takes time,” Wogulis said. “It took time in Berkeley, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Luckily, Santa Fe is a very cultural and artistic city. There’s so many museums, plays, concerts,” Bowden said. Their grown kids came to visit at Christmas. She is keeping up with masters swimming and cat rescue. They got a second cat through Felines and Friends. His name is Cyrus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in the Bay Area, the AI revolution continues the region’s long tradition of minting new millionaires and billionaires. The question is whether everyone else can hold on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Since the California Gold Rush, economic opportunities have drawn people to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">the Bay Area\u003c/a> from all over the world. But for just as long, the region’s boom-and-bust economy has made it impossible for others to stay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the 1990s, the tech industry has driven costs higher, but for some who work in the industry and haven’t struck IPO or AI gold, life in the Bay Area is not adding up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ani and Alex Vecchi, both software engineers, live in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley with their orange cat, Mushu. They haven’t been in the Bay Area long, but already, both aged 30, they’re starting to worry that the city they love may be too expensive for raising a family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Wogulis and Melanie Bowden, both 62, raised their family in Northern California, but a layoff made it impossible for them to stay. Last spring, they put their house in Berkeley on the market and drove to Santa Fe with a cat, Molly, and a chihuahua, Felice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers at Joint Venture Silicon Valley confirm what many already feel: the region’s economy is generating enormous wealth, but also growing impossibly unaffordable for most people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11970120\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2121px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11970120\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432.jpg\" alt=\"An aerial view of a city, with a large body of water in the bakground.\" width=\"2121\" height=\"1414\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432.jpg 2121w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1092771432-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2121px) 100vw, 2121px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of Redwood City. \u003ccite>(Sundry Photography via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even well-paid tech workers are being forced to choose between the Bay Area and the rest of their lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It distills to a few key points,” said Russell Hancock, President and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, at the organization’s annual State of the Valley conference in late February. “We have a very hot economy. It’s creating a lot of wealth. It’s not creating as many jobs. And our housing is too expensive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s creating \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078615/how-skyrocketing-housing-costs-and-policy-choices-reshaped-the-bay-area\">demographic churn\u003c/a> — young people move in while older folks move out.\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Ani and Alex\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ani and Alex Vecchi met about 10 years ago in physics class while studying software engineering at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She went into front-end, customer interface work. She’s now a senior software engineer for Banquet Health, a startup software platform for hospital meals. “Using tech for a good cause is huge for me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They came to the Bay Area in June of 2024 because Alex’s weather monitoring startup Sorcerer landed a \u003ca href=\"https://tracxn.com/d/companies/sorcerer/__iyp8-DoCQBPMaBMs4MjSSHaiRmAA4xVBX44YQJARrto\">$500,000 grant\u003c/a> from Y Combinator, the Silicon Valley accelerator that launched Airbnb, Dropbox and DoorDash. It was, in startup terms, a golden ticket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12085149\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12085149\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alex Vecchi and Mushu enjoy a sunny day in San Francisco’s Alamo Square. Alex and his wife, Ani, came to the city two years ago to pursue careers in tech. Now 30, the unaffordable housing market raises uncomfortable questions about whether and how they plan to raise children in the years to come. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Ani and Alex Vecchi)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Starting a company here, you have to do it here,” Alex said. The investors are here, or a short drive down the Peninsula. Scheduling a Zoom call? “It’s not the same,” he said. “Things spark here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sorcerer closed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2025/06/12/sorcerer-seed-weather-balloons\">$3.9 million seed round\u003c/a> last year. “That data is what powers, essentially, the forecasts on your phone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They have been having the time of their lives in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of greenery,” Ani said. “There’s a lot of people out and about. You have that drive [to succeed in business], but it’s also peaceful, in some ways.” They love walking and picnics and meals with friends. “There’s a lot going on here,” Ani said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The thing is, the Vechhis are starting to think about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075761/when-child-care-costs-half-a-paycheck-bay-area-parents-must-choose-kids-or-career\">having children\u003c/a>. But it’s complicated. They need both salaries, and both sets of parents, who could help them with childcare, live in Florida. And they’re not ready to make that move.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12061802/how-are-child-care-costs-affecting-the-lives-of-bay-area-families-you-told-us\">Rising child care costs in the Bay Area\u003c/a> are forcing parents to make painful tradeoffs, either by passing up career opportunities, cutting back work hours, or quitting altogether. For families with multiple young children, these expenses can surpass a parent’s entire salary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Vecchis also shy away from the idea of leaving San Francisco for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081761/in-the-bay-area-raising-kids-comes-with-compromise\">Bay Area suburb with nominally cheaper real estate\u003c/a>. “If we were to move out of the city, we might as well move back to Florida.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you gave me the option and I had the money, I would stay here 100%,” Alex said. And the family back in Florida? “They understand. They want us to be happy where we are. They know that we’re doing a bunch of great things here. When we think about moving back, we think, ‘But we’re not going to be happy over there.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research from \u003ca href=\"https://jointventure.org/news-and-media/blog/2790-a-region-in-motion-who-s-leaving-silicon-valley-and-why?mc_cid=4aada55384&mc_eid=9b006466f1\">Joint Venture Silicon Valley\u003c/a> provides statistical confirmation of personal experience. For years, the Bay Area has created jobs faster than it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11755545/google-pledges-1-billion-to-help-fight-bay-area-housing-crisis-it-helped-create\">builds housing\u003c/a>, fueling relentless price pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Silicon Valley, just 28% of Millennials own homes, compared to 68% of Baby Boomers, giving older residents an asset to rely on even in tough times. The Vecchis, like most people their age here, are still scrambling for a financial foothold, even though they both work in tech.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All these things have implications for community, and now we’re seeing it. We’re living it,” Hancock told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mark and Melanie\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In some ways, Ani and Alex Vecchi and Mark Wogulis and Melanie Bowden are living the same story twenty years apart. Young people arrive, fall in love with a place, build a life. Then something shifts, and the place that felt like home starts to feel like a problem to be solved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After decades in California, Mark Wogulis and Melanie Bowden felt the sting of leaving somewhere that felt like home. “It does hit differently,” Wogulis said, “when it’s not your choice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wogulis and Bowden met decades ago when they were teachers in San Francisco. He was teaching science.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/6cj4-T9ovDc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/6cj4-T9ovDc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>She was teaching math. They started a family. He pivoted from teaching to pharmaceuticals, then got a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pharmaceuticals and biotech are notoriously volatile, but he worked at Elan Pharmaceuticals in South San Francisco for nearly eight years, then at Novozymes in Davis for nearly 13.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From there, he moved to Amyris in Emeryville, which at the time specialized in developing sustainable alternatives for chemicals traditionally derived from petroleum or wildlife that were used in the beauty, flavor and fragrance industries. “Turned out everything they were selling, they were losing money on,” Wogulis said. “When the money ran out, they went bankrupt.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were three rounds of layoffs, but Wogulis remained optimistic. “I thought I had made it,” he said, because he hadn’t been laid off, even as the company went into and emerged from bankruptcy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then he got axed during a fourth round of layoffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, Wogulis thought he’d find another job, like he always had. But now in his 60s, his experience and longevity made him more expensive relative to other prospective employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079650\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079650\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-02-KQED.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-02-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260413-SILICON-VALLEY-CHURN-02-KQED-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Wogulis and Melanie Bowden in front of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco in 2022. A layoff in biotech forced the couple to sell their home in Berkeley and move to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in May of 2025. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Mark Wogulis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s no way to prove it, but there was no doubt in my mind that there was age discrimination involved,” Bowdon said. “He would be fully qualified for a job and hear nothing on many, many, many jobs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were people older than me at Amyris,” Wogulis said, “but not very many.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was also true that, thanks to LinkedIn and artificial intelligence, Wogulis was competing with biochemists from all over the world, many of them willing to relocate to the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, there just was nothing,” Wogulis said. “I applied for a bunch of stuff that either I was over- or under-qualified for. I mean, I got a couple of rejections. Most of them just went off into the void.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the layoff came, the couple was living in Berkeley, in a 1,570 square foot Craftsman-style home they bought after raising their family in Davis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We loved the location. So close to BART and bus stops, and lots of good restaurants within walking distance. I could bike to work. We also liked the charm of such an old house,” Wogulis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they crunched the numbers and realized they didn’t have much financial runway before they’d have to take off for someplace cheaper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We needed to get out of there. We couldn’t afford that house,” Bowden said. That’s how they decided to retire early at age 62 and move to Santa Fe, with their cat and dog in tow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The couple, born on the tail end of the Baby Boom, had the benefit of owning homes for much of their working lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proceeds from the sale of their house in Davis became the down payment for the house in Berkeley, so their mortgage was only $3,000 a month. Still, their utilities and property taxes added up to about $19,000 per year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They moved to Santa Fe knowing nobody but their real estate agents, who helped them find a house for $600,000— half what they paid in Berkeley, even though it’s roughly the same size. They don’t even have a mortgage, something that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11985468/map-what-you-need-to-earn-to-afford-a-median-priced-home-in-your-county-in-california\">seems wild\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101911013/tech-layoffs-and-higher-than-average-unemployment-a-close-look-at-the-bay-areas-job-market\">most Bay Area homeowners\u003c/a> today. The property taxes are smaller, too: about $4,000 per year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We did it out of necessity,” Wogulis said. “I would have felt a lot better if I’d totally chosen to come here, I didn’t feel \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11933511/mass-bay-area-tech-layoffs-thrust-thousands-of-h-1b-visa-holders-into-frantic-job-hunt\">under the gun\u003c/a> to do something. Yeah, that was difficult. It does hit differently when it’s…” he said, giving Bowden a chance to finish his sentence, the way longtime partners often do. “…When it’s not your choice. We had to move. We had to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12045711\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12045711\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250623-BerkeleyMiddleHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250623-BerkeleyMiddleHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250623-BerkeleyMiddleHousing-18-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250623-BerkeleyMiddleHousing-18-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A “For Rent” sign in Berkeley on June 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You know, there’s people I miss, definitely,” Bowden said. “Our neighbors are very nice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just takes time,” Wogulis said. “It took time in Berkeley, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Luckily, Santa Fe is a very cultural and artistic city. There’s so many museums, plays, concerts,” Bowden said. Their grown kids came to visit at Christmas. She is keeping up with masters swimming and cat rescue. They got a second cat through Felines and Friends. His name is Cyrus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in the Bay Area, the AI revolution continues the region’s long tradition of minting new millionaires and billionaires. The question is whether everyone else can hold on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San José’s first-of-its-kind program will help public employees \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">afford to live\u003c/a> in the city they serve, offering nearly 200 reduced-rent apartments in a downtown high-rise that has struggled with vacancies since it opened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s Lower Income Voucher and Equity program, known as LIVE, makes 197 one and two-bedroom units at The Fay, a 20-story building in the SoFA District, available at below-market rents for eligible public employees and other middle-income earners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor Matt Mahan said Tuesday the program is meant to support teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public servants who struggle to afford living in one of the country’s most expensive cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was an opportunity to invest in units that are available today,” Mahan said. “Buying affordability in existing buildings is an immediate way to get people into restricted affordable units faster and more cost-effectively — and because we’re taking an equity position in the building, we actually get paid back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program comes as San José grapples with one of the most expensive rental markets in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036938\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036938\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Housing developments along Berryessa Road near the Berryessa BART station in San José on Sept. 6, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment regularly exceeds $2,800, making it increasingly difficult for public sector workers to afford to live near where they work. Mahan said some city employees currently commute from as far as the Central Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eligibility is based on earning between 80 and 120 percent of the area median income and is not meant to target low-income residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than constructing new affordable housing — which Mahan said could cost taxpayers $150 to $200 million for a comparable number of units — the city is investing $11.2 million to buy down rents in a portion of The Fay. The investment is structured as an equity position, meaning the city expects to be repaid with interest over a 15-year period.[aside postID=news_12084487 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/251007-sacramentomiddlehousing_00077_TV_qed.jpg']The program gives public employees preference but does not restrict units exclusively to them. If units go unfilled, they will be opened to the general public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Anthony Tordillos, who represents the district, said the structure reflects the city’s need to be creative with limited resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Investing in affordable housing does not always mean new construction,” Tordillos said. “In this case, it means buying down the affordability of a recently completed and really world-class building, ensuring both stability and affordability. We are doing it while ensuring that the city not only recoups every public dollar invested, but also gains interest that can then be reinvested into additional affordable housing projects in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Fay, located at 10 E. Reed St. near galleries, cafes and music venues in the SoFA District, is steps from VTA Light Rail and about a mile from Caltrain. The building features a rooftop pool with panoramic views, a fitness center, yoga studio and coworking spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite its amenities, it has faced vacancy challenges since a previous ownership group ran into financial trouble unrelated to the property itself, according to development partner Andrew Jacobson of West Bank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072537\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072537\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan addresses reporters and city leaders at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It has great bones to it, great amenities,” Jacobson said. “Not only will we be able to bring city employees and service members into the building, we will be investing more into it, enhancing it, rebranding in the future, and activating the ground floor. To us, this is the starting gate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than two dozen people had already signed up through an interest form before Tuesday’s public announcement, according to Sarah Fields, deputy director of the city’s Housing Department. Applications are now open through the city’s housing department website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This pilot doesn’t solve our housing crisis on its own; no single program can,” Mahan said. “But it’s one more creative and bold attempt to create room for more people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor Matt Mahan said Tuesday the program is meant to support teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public servants who struggle to afford living in one of the country’s most expensive cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was an opportunity to invest in units that are available today,” Mahan said. “Buying affordability in existing buildings is an immediate way to get people into restricted affordable units faster and more cost-effectively — and because we’re taking an equity position in the building, we actually get paid back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program comes as San José grapples with one of the most expensive rental markets in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036938\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036938\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230906-BERRYESSA-BART-URBAN-VILLAGE-MD-06_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Housing developments along Berryessa Road near the Berryessa BART station in San José on Sept. 6, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment regularly exceeds $2,800, making it increasingly difficult for public sector workers to afford to live near where they work. Mahan said some city employees currently commute from as far as the Central Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eligibility is based on earning between 80 and 120 percent of the area median income and is not meant to target low-income residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than constructing new affordable housing — which Mahan said could cost taxpayers $150 to $200 million for a comparable number of units — the city is investing $11.2 million to buy down rents in a portion of The Fay. The investment is structured as an equity position, meaning the city expects to be repaid with interest over a 15-year period.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The program gives public employees preference but does not restrict units exclusively to them. If units go unfilled, they will be opened to the general public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Anthony Tordillos, who represents the district, said the structure reflects the city’s need to be creative with limited resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Investing in affordable housing does not always mean new construction,” Tordillos said. “In this case, it means buying down the affordability of a recently completed and really world-class building, ensuring both stability and affordability. We are doing it while ensuring that the city not only recoups every public dollar invested, but also gains interest that can then be reinvested into additional affordable housing projects in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Fay, located at 10 E. Reed St. near galleries, cafes and music venues in the SoFA District, is steps from VTA Light Rail and about a mile from Caltrain. The building features a rooftop pool with panoramic views, a fitness center, yoga studio and coworking spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite its amenities, it has faced vacancy challenges since a previous ownership group ran into financial trouble unrelated to the property itself, according to development partner Andrew Jacobson of West Bank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072537\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072537\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan addresses reporters and city leaders at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It has great bones to it, great amenities,” Jacobson said. “Not only will we be able to bring city employees and service members into the building, we will be investing more into it, enhancing it, rebranding in the future, and activating the ground floor. To us, this is the starting gate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than two dozen people had already signed up through an interest form before Tuesday’s public announcement, according to Sarah Fields, deputy director of the city’s Housing Department. Applications are now open through the city’s housing department website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This pilot doesn’t solve our housing crisis on its own; no single program can,” Mahan said. “But it’s one more creative and bold attempt to create room for more people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>When it comes to affording rent or a home mortgage in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a>, every candidate in the race for governor seems to have a personal stake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katie Porter wants her three teenage children to eventually move off her couch. Antonio Villaraigosa wants reliable home insurance. Matt Mahan doesn’t want to fight with his wife over their mortgage, as his parents did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the affordability crisis literally drives \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078787/grass-is-really-greener-for-many-californians-leaving-the-state\">residents out\u003c/a> of the state, the candidates have made housing a central point of their campaigns. That’s a sea change from previous elections, said Laura Foote, executive director for YIMBY Action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody up there was expected to have a plan and demonstrate how they were going to execute on delivering more affordable housing in California,” she said. “That’s a crazily different place than we were eight years ago, 10 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each candidate is trying to stand out in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082125/inside-californias-billionaire-tax-fight-and-the-wide-open-governors-race\">most competitive primary\u003c/a> for California governor in two decades. But many are hitting the same broad talking points: lower the cost of construction, make homeownership more accessible and reduce homelessness. Where they differ is in the details of how they’ll get there. Meanwhile, some voters feel discouraged by key issues they say are missing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katherine Peoples-McGill drove to Oakland from Altadena earlier this month to attend a debate sponsored by the Housing Action Coalition and other housing nonprofits. She runs the Rebuild Center for Altadenans, which assists survivors of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/la-fires\">2025 Los Angeles wildfires\u003c/a>. She was disappointed none of the candidates had visited her center, much less mentioned wildfires in their comments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037128\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12037128 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The burnt remains of St. Mark’s Church in Altadena, California, on April 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Mette Lampcov for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Altadena can happen anywhere in this country, anywhere in the state of California,” she said, “and for [the candidates] to really not be involved in that was a little shattering.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have, however, been plenty of proposals about how to reform the state’s home insurance industry. As top insurance companies, including Allstate, State Farm and American International Group (AIG) have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1985175/insurance-in-california-is-changing-heres-how-it-may-affect-you\">left the state\u003c/a> or pulled back from offering new policies, more Californians are seeking coverage through the state’s FAIR Plan, a self-proclaimed “insurer of last resort.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of March, more than 684,000 homes and businesses across the state have policies under the FAIR Plan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cfpnet.com/key-statistics-data/\">according to the insurer\u003c/a>. That’s a 152% increase in active policies compared to September 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But insurance experts say it’s a dangerous sign. Last year, private insurance companies gave the FAIR Plan\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026808/fair-plan-bailout-from-insurance-companies-policyholders-following-la-fires\"> $1 billion\u003c/a> to stay solvent and help pay customer claims from the Los Angeles fires. Industry observers told KQED that a large fire could wipe out the FAIR Plan’s reserves.[aside postID=news_12082915 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_039-KQED.jpg']“I’m on the un-FAIR plan,” former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a forum held by the California Association of Realtors in March. “If my house [burns] down, I won’t be able to get a fraction rebuilding that house.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If homeowners do need to rebuild — the need to do it faster and cheaper, as well as to create new housing — is one issue candidates across the aisle agree upon. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3743-1.html\">study published\u003c/a> last year by the research group RAND showed California is the most expensive state to construct apartments. Candidates repeatedly mentioned that finding as an argument to bring down the cost to build market-rate and subsidized homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also an issue that’s received interest from the California Legislature, as well as Congress. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076687/how-federal-housing-reform-could-impact-californians\">federal bill\u003c/a> with bipartisan support is slowly making its way to the White House, which would incentivize manufactured housing projects across the country. In California, lawmakers are working on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075043/its-expensive-to-build-housing-california-lawmakers-say-factory-built-is-the-future\">package of bills\u003c/a> that would support the industry locally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Assemblymember Buffy Wicks is spearheading California’s bill package, which focuses on making it easier to get factory-built housing off the ground. The Democrat said it’s an innovation that hasn’t been widely successful because there hasn’t been steady support from the building industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These fights are so hard politically,” she said. “I want someone, in terms of my next governor, who has the spine of steel to take those fights head on and to prioritize housing as where they are going to spend their political capital.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wick hasn’t endorsed any candidate in the race so far. But Democratic candidates Katie Porter, billionaire Tom Steyer and former state attorney general Xavier Becerra have all argued that modular and factory-built construction could hasten building timelines and streamline the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12081061\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12081061\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3948_1_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3948_1_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3948_1_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3948_1_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Steyer, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, left, and Katie Porter, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco, California, on April 22, 2026. California will hold its primary election on June 2, where the top two finishers advance to the general election in November regardless of party affiliation. \u003ccite>(Jason Henry/Nexstar via Bloomberg)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Other candidates are focusing on what the state can do now to incentivize and ease the path of traditional building methods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Superintendent Tony Thurmond has campaigned on building 2 million affordable homes on school district-owned surplus property. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco wants to end the “over-regulation of our building industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>British American political commentator Steve Hilton and Mahan, mayor of San Jose, have both talked about capping fees that cities often impose on developers to offset the impact of new development. A recent \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/LIHTCImpactFees2026.pdf\">study from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation\u003c/a> found that these “impact” fees contribute to less than 5% of total development costs, but can nonetheless deter it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12070650/these-fees-make-affordable-housing-more-expensive-developers-want-to-slash-them\">state legislature\u003c/a> has passed modest reforms, but Hilton has argued for a more straightforward fix: capping fees at 3% of a project’s construction costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve had hundreds of bills on this in the past few years, and it’s barely moved the needle,” Hilton said at a March forum. “A secret exemption here and a little incentive there, and it just makes it more and more complicated, more and more bureaucratic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072284\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072284\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CAGovDebateAP2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CAGovDebateAP2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CAGovDebateAP2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CAGovDebateAP2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steve Hilton and Matt Mahan participate in the California gubernatorial candidate debate on Feb. 3, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Laure Andrillon/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bringing down the cost of construction may be critical in a state where it is now \u003ca href=\"https://www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/comparing-rent-vs-owning-a-home-in-nations-largest-metros/\">more expensive\u003c/a> to own than rent in many cities. Several of the gubernatorial candidates shared support for a $25 billion bond headed to the November ballot that would support more middle-class homeownership. Thurmond has supported existing state-sponsored down-payment assistance programs, including the California Dream For All program and CalHome, and talked about expanding funding for those programs — something \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066291/this-program-helps-californians-buy-affordable-homes-advocates-want-more-funding\">advocates have been calling for\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when it comes to protecting the interests of renters, the candidates are divided on the best course. Steyer, Becerra, Villaraigosa and Thurmond have said they are in favor of some form of government-imposed rent caps, including extending and enforcing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069513/tenants-crushed-after-california-renter-protections-bill-stalls-in-the-legislature\">Tenant Protections Act\u003c/a>, a 2019 law that limits annual rent increases and restricts evictions. It’s set to expire in 2030, within the next governor’s term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Porter, a former state representative, has bucked that trend. In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XO676pq-gg\">KQED Town Hall\u003c/a>, Porter said that she opposes rent control. And while she said she supports the Tenant Protection Act, she argued that it can slow down construction and force people to stay put, regardless of whether moving would benefit their family or lifestyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you have a rent-controlled unit, it works really, really well for you — now, you’re stuck there,” she said. “Decide to have a couple kids, better get bunk beds because you can’t leave it, right?”[aside label=\"From the 2026 Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/governor,Learn about the California Governor Election' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2026/04/Aside-California-Governor-2026-Primary-Election-1200x1200@2x.png]Zach Murray, statewide campaign coordinator for the tenants rights group, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), said he was unsatisfied with the conversation around the expiring Tenant Protection Act and how renters could be affected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Democrats are not seriously addressing the concrete [affordability] needs, the needs for affordable housing, the needs for utilities, the needs for greater cost reductions across the board,” he said. “When we get legislators and a governor who takes those needs seriously, then I think we’ll begin to see change in our state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tenant advocates have argued that measures that limit evictions can also help prevent homelessness — an area where the state has recently been making strides. Unsheltered homelessness \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/01/16/following-9-drop-in-unsheltered-homelessness-governor-newsom-announces-new-investments-to-create-more-shelter-and-services-with-stronger-accountability/\">fell 9% last year,\u003c/a> according to preliminary data from the governor’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2024 audit from the \u003ca href=\"https://information.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2023-102.1/index.html#section1\">Legislative Analyst’s Office\u003c/a> found that Gov. Gavin Newsom spent about $24 billion to address homelessness and housing during the previous five fiscal years. On \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KygOFVgDmPU&t=2s\">KQED’s Political Breakdown podcast\u003c/a>, Bianco said the current administration threw money at homelessness but didn’t show consistent results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Newsom thinks] he’s so great because he gave more money than any other person in history to the homeless,” the Republican candidate said. “The amount of money means absolutely nothing. I’m going to measure [solving homelessness] by fewer tents on our sidewalks. That’s how you judge whether or not you’re doing something right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bianco, Steyer, Mahan and Villaraigosa have advocated for emergency interim shelters as a more cost-effective way to get people off the streets. During the Housing Action Coalition’s forum in May, Mahan spoke about his experience as mayor, creating 23 interim housing sites with “no-encampment zones” surrounding the sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not everybody loves the idea of a no-encampment zone, but that’s how we got community buy-in,” he said. “When we built interim housing and got people stabilized indoors and connected to case management, calls for service for crime — 911 — for blight — 311— plummeted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073370\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction is underway on an affordable housing apartment building at 2550 Irving St. in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To get more permanently affordable homes built, several candidates have proposed streamlining applications for state funding, so developers aren’t piecing together financing from various sources and can cut down construction costs by getting homes built faster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That desire could come at an opportune time as the state prepares to consolidate its myriad agencies overseeing housing and homelessness programs into one department, called the California Housing and Homelessness Agency. It is set to open this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Housing Action Coalition’s May forum in Oakland, land use expert Alex Schafran said he was amazed to see a governor’s debate focused exclusively on housing. However, it also struck him that there was consensus onstage and among many attendees, “including people who used to not get along 10 years ago and are now starting to find ways to work together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That will be critical, Shafran said, because the eventual governor will likely still need to work alongside his or her former rivals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whoever wins still has a lot of work to do in a really difficult and expensive environment,” he said. “Now the hard part really begins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Amid a crowded field, candidates for California’s next governor are trying to distinguish themselves on one of the biggest issues facing voters: the cost of housing.",
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"title": "How California’s Next Governor Would Tackle Rent, Insurance and Housing Costs | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When it comes to affording rent or a home mortgage in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a>, every candidate in the race for governor seems to have a personal stake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katie Porter wants her three teenage children to eventually move off her couch. Antonio Villaraigosa wants reliable home insurance. Matt Mahan doesn’t want to fight with his wife over their mortgage, as his parents did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the affordability crisis literally drives \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078787/grass-is-really-greener-for-many-californians-leaving-the-state\">residents out\u003c/a> of the state, the candidates have made housing a central point of their campaigns. That’s a sea change from previous elections, said Laura Foote, executive director for YIMBY Action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody up there was expected to have a plan and demonstrate how they were going to execute on delivering more affordable housing in California,” she said. “That’s a crazily different place than we were eight years ago, 10 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each candidate is trying to stand out in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082125/inside-californias-billionaire-tax-fight-and-the-wide-open-governors-race\">most competitive primary\u003c/a> for California governor in two decades. But many are hitting the same broad talking points: lower the cost of construction, make homeownership more accessible and reduce homelessness. Where they differ is in the details of how they’ll get there. Meanwhile, some voters feel discouraged by key issues they say are missing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katherine Peoples-McGill drove to Oakland from Altadena earlier this month to attend a debate sponsored by the Housing Action Coalition and other housing nonprofits. She runs the Rebuild Center for Altadenans, which assists survivors of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/la-fires\">2025 Los Angeles wildfires\u003c/a>. She was disappointed none of the candidates had visited her center, much less mentioned wildfires in their comments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037128\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12037128 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-29-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The burnt remains of St. Mark’s Church in Altadena, California, on April 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Mette Lampcov for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Altadena can happen anywhere in this country, anywhere in the state of California,” she said, “and for [the candidates] to really not be involved in that was a little shattering.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have, however, been plenty of proposals about how to reform the state’s home insurance industry. As top insurance companies, including Allstate, State Farm and American International Group (AIG) have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1985175/insurance-in-california-is-changing-heres-how-it-may-affect-you\">left the state\u003c/a> or pulled back from offering new policies, more Californians are seeking coverage through the state’s FAIR Plan, a self-proclaimed “insurer of last resort.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of March, more than 684,000 homes and businesses across the state have policies under the FAIR Plan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cfpnet.com/key-statistics-data/\">according to the insurer\u003c/a>. That’s a 152% increase in active policies compared to September 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But insurance experts say it’s a dangerous sign. Last year, private insurance companies gave the FAIR Plan\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026808/fair-plan-bailout-from-insurance-companies-policyholders-following-la-fires\"> $1 billion\u003c/a> to stay solvent and help pay customer claims from the Los Angeles fires. Industry observers told KQED that a large fire could wipe out the FAIR Plan’s reserves.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I’m on the un-FAIR plan,” former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a forum held by the California Association of Realtors in March. “If my house [burns] down, I won’t be able to get a fraction rebuilding that house.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If homeowners do need to rebuild — the need to do it faster and cheaper, as well as to create new housing — is one issue candidates across the aisle agree upon. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3743-1.html\">study published\u003c/a> last year by the research group RAND showed California is the most expensive state to construct apartments. Candidates repeatedly mentioned that finding as an argument to bring down the cost to build market-rate and subsidized homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also an issue that’s received interest from the California Legislature, as well as Congress. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076687/how-federal-housing-reform-could-impact-californians\">federal bill\u003c/a> with bipartisan support is slowly making its way to the White House, which would incentivize manufactured housing projects across the country. In California, lawmakers are working on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075043/its-expensive-to-build-housing-california-lawmakers-say-factory-built-is-the-future\">package of bills\u003c/a> that would support the industry locally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Assemblymember Buffy Wicks is spearheading California’s bill package, which focuses on making it easier to get factory-built housing off the ground. The Democrat said it’s an innovation that hasn’t been widely successful because there hasn’t been steady support from the building industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These fights are so hard politically,” she said. “I want someone, in terms of my next governor, who has the spine of steel to take those fights head on and to prioritize housing as where they are going to spend their political capital.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wick hasn’t endorsed any candidate in the race so far. But Democratic candidates Katie Porter, billionaire Tom Steyer and former state attorney general Xavier Becerra have all argued that modular and factory-built construction could hasten building timelines and streamline the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12081061\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12081061\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3948_1_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3948_1_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3948_1_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3948_1_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Steyer, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, left, and Katie Porter, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco, California, on April 22, 2026. California will hold its primary election on June 2, where the top two finishers advance to the general election in November regardless of party affiliation. \u003ccite>(Jason Henry/Nexstar via Bloomberg)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Other candidates are focusing on what the state can do now to incentivize and ease the path of traditional building methods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Superintendent Tony Thurmond has campaigned on building 2 million affordable homes on school district-owned surplus property. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco wants to end the “over-regulation of our building industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>British American political commentator Steve Hilton and Mahan, mayor of San Jose, have both talked about capping fees that cities often impose on developers to offset the impact of new development. A recent \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/LIHTCImpactFees2026.pdf\">study from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation\u003c/a> found that these “impact” fees contribute to less than 5% of total development costs, but can nonetheless deter it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12070650/these-fees-make-affordable-housing-more-expensive-developers-want-to-slash-them\">state legislature\u003c/a> has passed modest reforms, but Hilton has argued for a more straightforward fix: capping fees at 3% of a project’s construction costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve had hundreds of bills on this in the past few years, and it’s barely moved the needle,” Hilton said at a March forum. “A secret exemption here and a little incentive there, and it just makes it more and more complicated, more and more bureaucratic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072284\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072284\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CAGovDebateAP2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CAGovDebateAP2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CAGovDebateAP2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CAGovDebateAP2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steve Hilton and Matt Mahan participate in the California gubernatorial candidate debate on Feb. 3, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Laure Andrillon/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bringing down the cost of construction may be critical in a state where it is now \u003ca href=\"https://www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/comparing-rent-vs-owning-a-home-in-nations-largest-metros/\">more expensive\u003c/a> to own than rent in many cities. Several of the gubernatorial candidates shared support for a $25 billion bond headed to the November ballot that would support more middle-class homeownership. Thurmond has supported existing state-sponsored down-payment assistance programs, including the California Dream For All program and CalHome, and talked about expanding funding for those programs — something \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066291/this-program-helps-californians-buy-affordable-homes-advocates-want-more-funding\">advocates have been calling for\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when it comes to protecting the interests of renters, the candidates are divided on the best course. Steyer, Becerra, Villaraigosa and Thurmond have said they are in favor of some form of government-imposed rent caps, including extending and enforcing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069513/tenants-crushed-after-california-renter-protections-bill-stalls-in-the-legislature\">Tenant Protections Act\u003c/a>, a 2019 law that limits annual rent increases and restricts evictions. It’s set to expire in 2030, within the next governor’s term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Porter, a former state representative, has bucked that trend. In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XO676pq-gg\">KQED Town Hall\u003c/a>, Porter said that she opposes rent control. And while she said she supports the Tenant Protection Act, she argued that it can slow down construction and force people to stay put, regardless of whether moving would benefit their family or lifestyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you have a rent-controlled unit, it works really, really well for you — now, you’re stuck there,” she said. “Decide to have a couple kids, better get bunk beds because you can’t leave it, right?”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Zach Murray, statewide campaign coordinator for the tenants rights group, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), said he was unsatisfied with the conversation around the expiring Tenant Protection Act and how renters could be affected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Democrats are not seriously addressing the concrete [affordability] needs, the needs for affordable housing, the needs for utilities, the needs for greater cost reductions across the board,” he said. “When we get legislators and a governor who takes those needs seriously, then I think we’ll begin to see change in our state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tenant advocates have argued that measures that limit evictions can also help prevent homelessness — an area where the state has recently been making strides. Unsheltered homelessness \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/01/16/following-9-drop-in-unsheltered-homelessness-governor-newsom-announces-new-investments-to-create-more-shelter-and-services-with-stronger-accountability/\">fell 9% last year,\u003c/a> according to preliminary data from the governor’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2024 audit from the \u003ca href=\"https://information.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2023-102.1/index.html#section1\">Legislative Analyst’s Office\u003c/a> found that Gov. Gavin Newsom spent about $24 billion to address homelessness and housing during the previous five fiscal years. On \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KygOFVgDmPU&t=2s\">KQED’s Political Breakdown podcast\u003c/a>, Bianco said the current administration threw money at homelessness but didn’t show consistent results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Newsom thinks] he’s so great because he gave more money than any other person in history to the homeless,” the Republican candidate said. “The amount of money means absolutely nothing. I’m going to measure [solving homelessness] by fewer tents on our sidewalks. That’s how you judge whether or not you’re doing something right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bianco, Steyer, Mahan and Villaraigosa have advocated for emergency interim shelters as a more cost-effective way to get people off the streets. During the Housing Action Coalition’s forum in May, Mahan spoke about his experience as mayor, creating 23 interim housing sites with “no-encampment zones” surrounding the sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not everybody loves the idea of a no-encampment zone, but that’s how we got community buy-in,” he said. “When we built interim housing and got people stabilized indoors and connected to case management, calls for service for crime — 911 — for blight — 311— plummeted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073370\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction is underway on an affordable housing apartment building at 2550 Irving St. in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To get more permanently affordable homes built, several candidates have proposed streamlining applications for state funding, so developers aren’t piecing together financing from various sources and can cut down construction costs by getting homes built faster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That desire could come at an opportune time as the state prepares to consolidate its myriad agencies overseeing housing and homelessness programs into one department, called the California Housing and Homelessness Agency. It is set to open this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Housing Action Coalition’s May forum in Oakland, land use expert Alex Schafran said he was amazed to see a governor’s debate focused exclusively on housing. However, it also struck him that there was consensus onstage and among many attendees, “including people who used to not get along 10 years ago and are now starting to find ways to work together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That will be critical, Shafran said, because the eventual governor will likely still need to work alongside his or her former rivals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whoever wins still has a lot of work to do in a really difficult and expensive environment,” he said. “Now the hard part really begins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"order": 9
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 18
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"marketplace": {
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"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
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"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
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"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
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"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"onourwatch": {
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"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"order": 11
},
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"on-the-media": {
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"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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},
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"perspectives": {
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"order": 14
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 5
},
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
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},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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