Overview
California has not met its housing production need since 1988. Among the issues contributing to California’s housing woes are the absence of statewide planning, growth limitations and cumbersome requirements mandated by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
In 2006, California voters approved Proposition 1C — the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act — which would allow the state to sell $2.85 billion in general obligation bonds to fund new and existing housing programs over several years. The programs funded through the act are designed to help develop and protect the supply of affordable housing for Californians.
Goals
- Promote legislative reforms aimed at increasing housing supply and affordability in California by removing the barriers to housing production, particularly in the state's urban areas and job centers.
- Encourage communities to increase needed housing supplies in a smart way that focuses on growth near job centers if certain barriers to housing construction are removed.
Issue Summaries
Housing
Position: The CalChamber supports: increasing the number of homes built to increase housing affordability; examining state and local roles in planning for new home construction; reforming the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to remove needless obstacles to home construction; and increased liability protections for urban infill projects.
Housing Bond Summary 
Infrastructure Summary
'Green' Buildings
Position: It is important that innovations in green building are not sabotaged by state mandates. The demand for green products is skyrocketing and the market will adjust accordingly. The business community supports green building standards and is actively engaged in proliferation of the technology. CalChamber members want to see green buildings flourish in this state, but believe this development should be done in a collaborative manner with industry and through an incentive-based approach that has already proven successful. Green Building Summary
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