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   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a contentious bill aimed at tackling   
   California’s sky-high housing costs by spurring denser development near   
   major transit stops in big cities.   
      
   “Housing near transit means shorter commutes, lower costs, and more time   
   with family. When we invest in housing, we’re investing in people — their   
   chance to build a future, raise a family, and be part of a community,” the   
   California governor said in a statement.   
      
   The bill will require local officials in counties with more than 15   
   passenger rail stations to OK large housing developments — in some cases,   
   buildings up to nine stories — located within a half mile of such a stop.   
      
   The group behind the bill, the pro-development California YIMBY, said the   
   new housing rules will apply to fewer than 1 percent of transit stops in   
   the state, and to only eight counties with large cities: Los Angeles,   
   Orange, San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Sacramento and San   
   Diego.   
      
   The bill, SB 79, weathered intense resistance in the statehouse, and its   
   author, state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, narrowed it   
   significantly to exclude transit stops with less frequent service. It   
   touched a nerve in wildfire-scarred, car-centric Los Angeles; Mayor Karen   
   Bass had urged Newsom to veto the proposal over concerns about   
   displacement and the loss of local decision-making authority, arguing in a   
   letter it “risks significant unintended consequences for many of Los   
   Angeles’ diverse communities.”   
      
   Wiener, a longtime champion of speeding construction to boost the supply   
   of housing and lower costs, negotiated with powerful construction and   
   hotel-worker unions to require the use of unionized workers in   
   developments over 85 feet tall.   
      
   Those amendments and others were enough to win over some progressive   
   Democrats who had originally panned the bill as a handout to developers,   
   including state Sens. Aisha Wahab from Hayward and María Elena Durazo from   
   Los Angeles.   
      
   But many statewide and local officials from Southern California have   
   remained against the bill, which was the subject of frenzied lobbying   
   efforts by both sides of the debate after its passage.   
      
   The Los Angeles City Council passed a resolution in August laying out its   
   opposition, writing that the bill “further undermines local governance,   
   circumvents local decision-making processes and imposes unintended burdens   
   on communities.”   
      
   In her letter to Newsom, sent shortly after the bill passed, Bass wrote   
   that she agreed that housing production must be streamlined in the city.   
   But, she added, “we must do so in a way that does not erode local control,   
   diminish community input on planning and zoning, and disproportionately   
   impact low-resourse neighborhoods.”   
      
   Discussion around the bill also took on a life of its own online. When   
   Newsom played Fortnite on a livestream to talk politics with one of his   
   kids’ favorite Twitch streamers last week, the comment section was spammed   
   with questions over what the governor would do with SB 79.   
      
   “We are aware of Senate Bill 79. Please don’t spam it!” pinned one user in   
   the chat.   
      
   https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/10/gavin-newsom-signs-contentious-   
   bill-to-spur-housing-construction-00602129   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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