"In December, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas assigned his members an “urgent” task: Make California cheaper to live in.
“Californians are deeply anxious. They are anxious about our state’s cost of living,” he told his colleagues in the wake of an election where concerns about the economy were top of mind for voters. “We must chart a new path forward and renew the California dream by focusing on affordability.”
Five months later, the state Legislature has little to show for it.
Just last week, Rivas announced four new “select committees” tasked with pitching ideas to lower the cost of housing, fuel, child care and food, but they won’t meet until June, and Rivas did not specify when he expects legislation from the committees. Some of the lawmakers assigned to chair them say they want to develop “practical” solutions but did not articulate what those would be.
Rivas, a Salinas Democrat, has also backed a slate of measures, most of which aim to ease restrictions on housing construction, but few have reached the Assembly floor for a vote."