The average rent in California is now more than double the national average – and as high as $4,500 per month in San Francisco. But a solution for this crisis continues to elude Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature, with negotiations last year falling apart over proposed rules to speed up the land-use approval process for new construction.
Lawmakers have pledged again this session to make housing a priority; bills to create more funding for affordable projects by placing a fee on real estate transactions and eliminating a state tax deduction for vacation homes are moving through the process. Brown, however, has been skeptical of that approach, and his January budget proposal left out the $400 million in affordable-housing money that had been part of last year’s unsuccessful talks.
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