The November ballot in California is often described as having four housing measures on it, among the 11 on the ballot. It really has five, and the fifth one might be best.
Let’s start with the acknowledged four. Two of these are ballot initiatives—which means they were put on the ballot by signature gathering—and both have been getting publicity, which is a triumph since so few measures get much notice at all.
Unfortunately, both measures are deeply problematic. Prop 5 would make it easier for older folks to take their lower property taxes with them when they move; this adds to the deleterious effects of Prop 13, and the advantages of the old in the state. For a state that provides too much in advantages for the old, especially in housing, this is a step back.
The other, Prop 10, would free up local governments to regulate rents of all kinds of properties. Essentially, it’s an invitation to the counterproductive policy of rent control, which would discourage creation of the additional housing California needs (and likely raise the cost of housing in and around rent controlled areas).
The other two measures are bonds put on the ballot by the legislature, and they’ve received less notice. Prop 1 issues $4 billion for housing programs and veterans’ loans. That could spur some housing, but bond measures are an expensive way to do that, given the borrowing costs. The same is true of Prop 2, a bond for homeless housing; again, this is a need, but an expensive way to do it. What California really needs is tax reform that produce more money today for investments in such housing.
Then there’s the fifth measure: It’s Proposition 12. And it was place on the ballot with the backing of the Humane Society of the United States, which wins more ballot initiatives in the U.S. than any other interest group.
Yes, since it’s the Humane Society, it’s about animals, not humans. But it’s also about housing, and holds lessons for humankind.
Specifically, it follows up a previous successful initiative protecting farm animals from tight confinement by specific amounts of square footage that different farm animals need.
Its enforcement mechanism is to ban sales of meat from animals not raised with enough space.
Prop 12 would guarantee at least 43 square feet of usable floor space to each calf, 24 square feet to each pig, and 1 square foot per hen. As someone who sees the overcrowded conditions in which many Californians reside, I would suggest we might consider providing similar human-sized space protections for humans.
Prop 12’s housing idea is certainly the best on the ballot.