That goal may sound reasonable on paper. In practice, CEQA has increasingly become a tool for obstructing housing development, exacerbating California’s housing shortage and keeping costs stubbornly high.
In one city, the government imposes land-use regulations that make those types of housing difficult or impossible to build. In another, property owners have much more freedom to subdivide their land and build the housing they want.
When regulators think that they know better than the market, the result is that jobs become less accessible, stripping people of valuable opportunities to develop their skills and build wealth.
Recently released IRS data confirms what common sense has long suggested. Americans are leaving high-tax states like California and New York for lower-tax alternatives.
