Federal YIMBY Act Targets Federal Control

 

Federal YIMBY Act Targets Local Control

Posted by: Susan Kirsch - September 13, 2020 - 9:32pm

Sacramento legislators took a stand and nixed seven of nine harmful housing bills. Now send a message to Senator Feinstein & Senator Harris. Vote NO on the YIMBY Act!

Background info: The national YIMBY Act, a bipartisan bill, is expected to go to the floor of the US Senate (S.1919) for a vote in September. With funding controlled by the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, the federal government (HUD) would “incentivize” (some would say “usurp”) state and local housing decisions. The House of Representatives passed the YIMBY Act (HR 4351) in March, 2020 with a voice vote.

Like CA legislation, the bill would institute top-down changes in zoning to reduce minimum lot size, which would increase density, and burden cities with cumbersome record-keeping. The YIMBY Act would benefit the already-wealthy and harm wage-earners and communities without significantly providing affordable housing. The bill does not address the underlying economic issues re: income inequity, unregulated building monopolies, unfair tax policies, globalization, or the impact of COVID-19.

For more information: Click on the hyperlink to go to the resource:

• Verbal description of YIMBY Act, S.1919.
• Press release from Sen. Todd Young (Ind.) when he introduced the bill in June 2019. “Burdensome and discriminatory local zoning and land use policies drive up housing costs in communities across America,” said Senator Young.
• Press release, “YIMBY Act Endorsed by 13 Organizations, Oct. 9, 2019
• Louisville Courier Journal, September 11, 2020, “Mitch McConnell should use his authority to increase Kentucky’s affordable housing choices.”
• The housing crisis is about the globalization of housing.
• The CA numbers used to justify the housing crisis are inflated and unreliable. Embarcadero Report “California’s 3.5 Million Housing Shortage Number Raises Questions.”
• YIMBY funders. “Inside Game,” by Patrick Range McDonald, January 13, 2020.

Email or call to encourage a NO on the YIMBY Act:

Senator Feinstein: https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me

Senator Kamala Harris:https://www.harris.senate.gov/contact/email

Click on the phone numbers to enlarge

SAMPLE Email/Script to Feinstein and Harris:

Congress is trying to do at the national level, what legislators rejected in California. Please vote NO on the YIMBY Act. CA legislators rejected seven of nine YIMBY-bills authored by Senators Scott Wiener, Toni Atkins, and others (Nix-the-Nine.blogspot.com).

For the third year in a row, CA legislators supported the rights of locally-elected officials to make zoning decisions, not outside bureaucrats and lobbyists.They rejected YIMBY bills that benefit real-estate developers/ speculators, but harm communities by reducing local control, increasing density and removing environmental protections.

The raging fires show us that now, more than ever, cities need CEQA as a tool of protection.The YIMBY narrative is based on false, inflated numbers; faulty assumptions, and solutions that benefit the already-wealthy, not wage-earners. Please vote NO on the YIMBY Act.