SB-1 The Biggest Land Use Law in a Generation

Darrell Steinberg's SB-1 passes the Senate and is awaiting Governor Browns signature.

Editor's Note, Just received this note from a friend:

I read through the SB1 bill last night.  No, I was not having trouble sleeping.  Have you read the bill?  There are some interesting assertions in the bill that are not "accurate".   My favorite is the sections talking about clean energy manufacturing.  CA has actively attacked and driven out huge number of manufacturing jobs out of the state.  This has been going on for years.  Between CAL OSHA / CAL EPA and the most aggressive agency, the State Franchise Board manufacturing has a very difficult time doing business in CA.  

In thinking about this bill, it is a back door attempt to reestablish the Redevelopment agencies that the Governor shut down.  This is unfortunate.  Gov. Brown shut down these agencies for two reasons:

• They don't delivery on what they promise. 
• The state need the money to balance the budget. 

Two areas leap to mind, Oakland, and Hercules.  The amount of money poured into the area to build offices and shopping centers that today, are largely empty. There is an assertion in SB1 that construction jobs are "good jobs".  Judging by what I see on construction sites, most of these jobs are filled with "undocumented workers", and are seldom union jobs.   Most of the construction industry is built on the idea of huge expansive growth driven by the economy and population.  Construction is a lagging indicator of growth.  The problem is that before the "correction" or melt down of 2008, construction related jobs accounted for about 10% of the CA economy.  This number was not sustainable as the collapse demonstrated.

I am not sure if  you noticed but there is a prevailing wage clause in the bill.  If you have spent anytime around SF contract practices you should probable get very upset about the clause. 

I am writing the Governor about the bill and asking him to veto the bill.  There is no telling what will happen there. 

As minor note:

There was paper written in 2003 by the EU commission on what happens when we reach 0 growth.  The paper walked through the idea that most eu countries (especially Germany) are highly dependent on emerging markets, new markets.  What happens when the only growth a company/economy sees is related to population growth?  I will admit that paper was written by a Frenchman, who are taught the free markets require government supervision but it is an interesting thought exercises.  The paper was written to get policy makers to realize that the era endless, boundless growth is coming to an end.  What happens when revenue growth matches population growth. 

-M.

Foot notes. 

  1. A minor note, the 10% includes the entire supply chain surround construction, materials, design, planning and etc. 

Contact California Governor Jerry Brown HERE

or call NOW  916-445-2841