B4 • Friday, September 8, 2023
thegardenisland.com
THE GARDEN ISLAND
California lawmakers fast-track low-income housing other bills. When lawmakers finish, Newsom will have a month to decide whether to sign them into law.
Tran Nguyen and Sophie Austin ASSOCIATED PRESS/REPORT FOR AMERICA SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers are considering nearly 1,000 bills during the hectic final two weeks of the Legislative session. Here’s action taken by the California Legislature on Thursday: Affordable housing on churches’ lands Religious institutions and nonprofit colleges in California could soon turn their parking lots and other properties into low-income housing to help combat the ongoing homeless crisis, lawmakers voted on Thursday. The legislation would rezone land owned by nonprofit colleges and religious institutions, such as churches, mosques, and synagogues, to allow for affordable housing. They would be able to bypass most local permitting and environmental review rules that can be costly and lengthy. California is home to 171,000 homeless people — about 30 percent of all homeless people in the U.S. The crisis has sparked a movement among religious institutions, dubbed “yes in God’s backyard,” or “YIGBY,” in cities across the state, with a number of projects already in the works. But churches and colleges often face big hurdles
Gender-neutral bathroom The state Assembly on Thursday approved a bill to require schools serving first through 12th grade to have at least one gender-neutral bathroom available for students by 2026. The legislation would apply to schools with multiple female and male restrooms. The bill comes amid debates in California and elsewhere about the JANIE HAR / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE rights of transgender and California Sen. Scott Wiener speaks about housing during a news conference at nonbinary students, includSan Francisco State University in San Francisco on Feb. 22, 2022. ing whether teachers should notify parents if It would only apply to af- fordable housing units to their child changes protrying to convert their surplus land and underutilized fordable housing projects, the state’s housing stock. A nouns at school. recent study by the Univerparking lots into housing and the law would sunset The state’s Superintenbecause their land is not in 2036. sity of California, Berkeley, dent of Public Instruction zoned for residential use. Democratic AssemblyTerner Center for Housing Tony Thurmond supported An affordable housing proj- member Sharon QuirkInnovation estimated Calithe bill, saying it would Silva, who represents ect in a San Jose church fornia religious and higher help gender nonconformhad to go through a rezon- Orange County, said there education campuses have ing students feel safe in the ing process that took more are hundreds of faith-based more than 170,000 acres of restroom they choose to organizations and several land that would be eligible use on campus. than two years before it “This legislation is a criticould break ground in 2021. community colleges in her under the bill. district that could use this But several cities opThe goal of this legislacal step toward preparing bill as a tool to expedite af- posed the bill and said it California students to suction is to carve an easier path to build much-needed fordable housing projects. would take away local con- ceed by ensuring the nechousing in the state, said “If only a small fraction trol over housing develop- essary steps of having a Democratic Sen. Scott Wie- of them chose to build very ments. Environmental safe foundation to rely on; having a safe and inclusive groups also worry the bill ner, who authored the bill. small amount of units, we could start picking away at doesn’t have enough guard- place to use the restroom,” The bill, which was apthis issue one church at a proved by the Assembly, rails and would put low-in- Thurmond said in prepared comments to the Legislaneeds the final approval in time, one educational insti- come housing close to the state Senate before polluting areas such as tution at a time,” she said ture. heading to the desk of freeways, industrial faciliThursday. Democratic Gov. Gavin Supporters of the bill ties, and oil and gas plants. Diverse textbooks in schools Newsom, who will decide said it could help add hunLawmakers have until whether to sign it into law. dreds of thousands of afThe state Senate passed Sept. 14 to act on this and
Long-term mortgage rate slips, but remains near its 22-year high ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell again this week, but remains near the 22-year high it hit three weeks ago, little relief for house hunters facing persistently high prices and a near-historic low number of homes for sale. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan fell to 7.12 percent from 7.18 percent last week. A year ago, the rate averaged 5.89 percent. The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with those refinancing their homes, fell to 6.52 percent from 6.55 percent last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.16 percent, Freddie Mac said. High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already unaffordable to many Americans. They also discourage homeowners who locked in low rates two years ago from selling. Mortgage rates have been climbing in recent weeks, echoing moves in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing loans. The yield, which two weeks ago neared its highest level since 2007, has been hovering above 4 percent since August as bond traders weigh whether recent economic data increase the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will decide it needs to keep interest rates higher for longer to lower inflation.
a bill to ensure school curricula reflect the cultural and racial diversity of California and the U.S. The bill would also require school governing boards to approve instructional materials that include accurate depictions of LGBTQ+ people and their contributions. It would ban governing boards from rejecting textbooks because they mention the contributions of people with a particular racial background or sexual orientation. It’s an issue that has cropped in many states, and one that garnered renewed attention in California when a Southern California school board, Temecula Valley Unified, rejected an elementary social studies curriculum that included materials mentioning Harvey Milk, a former San Francisco politician and gay rights advocate. Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened the school board with a $1.5 million fine. The board later reversed course. State senators debated intensely on the bill. They took a “timeout” after Democratic Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, who chairs the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said Republican Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh’s comments about the bill were off topic. Republican lawmakers and Democratic Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil voted against it.
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