Tuesday, August 30, 2016

There is no infrastructure spending in California

Business Times: It was the boldest California housing policy proposal in years: Allow any residential project that complies with local zoning and sets aside as few as five percent of its units as affordable to be built "as of right," removing review from local municipalities. The idea was to fast-track approvals and reduce the cost of building as the state struggles with a crushing housing crisis.
But after three months of debate and widespread opposition, the proposal by Gov. Jerry Brown, meant to boost the state's housing production in the face of record-high housing prices, appears to be dead. State Assembly speaker Anthony Rendon said last week that discussions on the proposal were over, as first reported by the Sacramento Bee. The state's Department of Housing and Community Development, which has been advocating for the proposal on behalf of Brown, declined to comment on negotiations.

Jerry Brown killed the bill because unions objected:

Construction unions sought a major modification in the proposal: requiring projects that benefitted to ensure minimal construction salary thresholds equivalent to union wages through prevailing wage agreements. Ben Metcalf, director of the state's Housing and Community Development, told the Los Angeles Times that requiring prevailing wage would discourage some developers from using the program. Requiring higher wages would remove the financial advantages of using the program in some cases, he said.
 The union block is directly supported by Kanosian idiots who claim infrastructure spending has good multipliers.  But the Kanosians themselves have to go along, they have university jobs because the unions hire them using public money.  California is bankrupt because of Jerry Brown and the union overlords.

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