By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey

‌California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

Two members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) joined a bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers to introduce a 20-bill package that would fast-track housing production in the state.

Assemblymembers Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) and Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City) added bills that would make housing more affordable and cut down the time it takes to get approval to build houses.

The package of bills is based on recommendations included in the final report of the Select Committee on Permitting Reform, chaired by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland).

On March 27, Wicks, McKinnor, and other legislators attended a media event at the State Capitol Swing Space Annex to formally unveil the measures.

“A few years ago, when asked about my pro-housing work, I said ‘I am not here for the B.S. – I am here to build housing.’ Well, years later, both statements remain true. I am still not here for the B.S. – and I am still here to build housing,” McKinnor said during the presentation. “As we have learned from the Legislature’s past work and the incredible package of pro-housing bills being discussed today, there is not one solution to fix California’s housing crisis. And that is ok. Because standing with my colleagues and incredible pro-housing advocates, I know that together, we will solve California’s housing crisis.”

According to Wicks, the state is in the midst of a severe housing crisis, with a shortfall of 2.5 million homes and nearly 200,000 individuals experiencing homelessness around California.

About 80% of low-income households are saddled with high rental costs and are often forced to decide between sustaining stable housing and managing basic necessities. For others, owning a home in the state is out of reach.

To address these obstacles, lawmakers are zeroing in on the systemic red tape that they say impedes progress on housing development.

“The Fast Track Housing package is about making our systems work better: clearer rules, faster timelines, and fewer bureaucratic hoops,” Wicks said. “It’s not about cutting corners — it’s about being honest that what we’re doing isn’t working. This package reflects a broad, bipartisan commitment to saying yes to housing, yes to progress, and yes to a government that helps solve problems instead of creating them.”

McKinnor, the chair of the Los Angeles County Legislative Caucus, authored Assembly Bill (AB) 557 – the California Factory-Built Housing Law. The bill would facilitate cost-saving measures by eliminating local inspections on factory-built housing (FBH) that is already inspected by the state.

According to the state’s Department of Housing Community and Development (DHCD), an FBH is a “residential building, dwelling unit, individual dwelling room, or combination of rooms, or building components, assembly, or system manufactured.”

CHCD regulates the manufacturing of factory-built housing and building components manufactured for sale in California. McKinnor said she and Wicks toured an FBH manufacturer in Southern California last fall.

“It’s just what we need,” McKinnor said of FBHs. “(AB 557) can reduce construction timeline by as much as 60%, cut waste by 80% compared to traditional construction, and remove cost overruns on 55% of the projects since factory costs are fixed.”

AB 1308, authored by Assemblymember Josh Hoover (R-Folsom), facilitates the post-entitlement process by requiring building departments to provide an estimated timeframe for building permit inspections. It also allows applicants to contract with private professional providers to undertake the inspection.

“Our state must do more to lower the cost of housing for California families. We can start by reducing barriers to the current residential permitting process,” Hoover said. “AB 1308 helps do this in a bipartisan way by holding local municipalities accountable for more timely home inspections.”

Wilson has two bills that are part of the package. AB 660 would speed up the “post-entitlement process” by allowing a third-party review of building permits if they are not reviewed by the local agency in a timely fashion.

Wilson’s AB 1026 would remove unpredictability from the development process by requiring investor-owned utilities to follow the same rules as local governments in reviewing and approving post-entitlement permits, according to her office.

The package targets the five key bottlenecks that delay housing development: application, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance, entitlement, post-entitlement, and enforcement. By addressing inefficiencies at every step, the lawmakers say they are aiming to reduce project timelines, cut costs, and get shovels in the ground faster.

The package proposes a number of reforms to CEQA. Wicks said she understands the need for evaluating significant environmental impacts but she says CEQA is also “weaponized” to halt important projects.

CEQA requires that state and local agencies disclose and assess the significant impacts of proposed projects and adopt all practical alleviation measures to cut back or eliminate environmental impact.

Sen. Tim Grayson (D-Concord) is a licensed contractor and knows how painstaking the permitting process can be for home buyers and homebuilders. Grayson’s SB 328 intends to ramp up the repair and reuse of contaminated sites by imposing timelines on the Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) to respond to permit requests for housing projects.

SB 328 will cap fees for reviewing the remediation of sites that were not contaminated by the project sponsor. Grayson told California Black Media that “timing and response” are the biggest barriers to building housing efficiently.

“Time is money. The longer it takes, the more the uncertainty of fees that were not published prior but added to the project processes. And having to represent your project multiple times over — all of that takes time.”

Grayson added, “During that wave of time, prices and products have changed, supplies have changed, and the workforce has probably moved to a different place. Now you have to pay more for the workforce.”