When California Gov. Gavin Newsom made an unusual appearance on Fox News, it was inevitable that conservative commentator Sean Hannity would bore in on California’s chronic housing shortage and homelessness crisis. Why, Hannity asked, did California have such problems?
“Because housing costs are too high,” Newsom replied. “Our regulatory thickets are too problematic. Localism has been too impactful, meaning people locally are pushing back against new housing starts and construction.”
Newsom’s synopsis of the issue is quite accurate. The state’s housing shortage stems from the over-regulation of development, largely driven by local opposition. It drives up costs to tenants and would-be homebuyers and pushes some into the streets.
That cause-and-effect relationship was confirmed in a recent in-depth study of homelessness by a UC San Francisco research team.
Having pinpointed the underlying causes of the crisis, one might think that Newsom would energetically attempt to address them.
Last week, as part of a broader budget agreement, the governor persuaded the Legislature to modify the California Environmental Quality Act, which is commonly misused to thwart housing developments, but he didn’t do it for housing. Rather, he wants to streamline CEQA’s effect on public works projects, particularly those involving renewable energy and water supply.
Indirectly, therefore, Newsom told Californians that while he says it should be done, he’s not willing to take on the heavy lifting...
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