California’s controversial housing bill, which would have required cities and counties to change local zoning laws to allow for new, denser housing near job centers and public transportation, died in the state Senate Thursday morning, four votes shy of the support needed to advance the legislation to the Assembly.

The measure has deeply divided stakeholders for more than a year, and lively debate on the Senate floor before an initial vote was taken on Wednesday stretched to two hours. The bill was narrowly defeated 18-15 on Wednesday afternoon, with six senators declining to vote, including Republican leader Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, who was in Washington, D.C. It was re-introduced Thursday morning in a final effort to get the bill through before the Jan. 31 deadline, but still failed.

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Introduced in December 2018, the bill has failed to pass in the Senate in the past two legislative sessions despite lengthy discussion. It aimed to address California’s severe housing shortage that is driving increases inhomelessness in the state, creating a financial crunch for many residents and contributing to urban sprawl that clogs freeways with commuters who live far from their workplaces, according to Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, who authored the bill. He argues that local zoning laws are undermining the state’s efforts to address the issue.

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Weiner blamed misinformation campaigns for some of the pushback on the bill. He acknowledged, however, that more work is needed on SB 50, and asked his fellow lawmakers to approve it so the Assembly could continue that work.

“When it comes to housing in California we can no longer afford our broken status quo,” he said on the Senate floor on Wednesday. “We have done some amazing work in this body, and I applaud that” he added, “but our work is not done.”

Solutions needed to address the housing crisis

California’s housing crisis has deepened in recent years, despite efforts at all levels of government to combat rising rents and statewide shortages. Nearly a third of Californians devote more than 50% of their paychecks to housing and the state is short roughly 3.4 million affordable units according to a report from the California Housing Consortium.

The crunch is also a major contributor to homelessness across the state. California has nearly a quarter of the nation’s homeless and the numbers are increasing. An estimate of homelessness across the country showed a 2.7% increase last year, a rise that Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson blamed on California. The state saw its numbers of unhoused go up more than 16% in 2019.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom set a goal to build 3.5 million new homes by 2025, and analysts say roughly half a million new units will need to be built per year to reach that goal. Last year, 111,000 new building permits were approved by local governments, 6,000 less than in 2018.

Newsom had not endorsed the bill but told reporters he was working with lawmakers to get it through.

“We are not giving up, we are going to continue to work aggressively to address production in this state,” he said on Wednesday before the vote.

The legislation took aim at restrictive zoning and would have required counties with more than 600,000 residents to approve permits for more construction of multi-story housing and streamline the approval process for apartment buildings in neighborhoods near public transportation.

It would have required local governments to approve four-story buildings within half-mile of transit and five-story buildings within a quarter-mile. SB 50 also would give the state more power to curb local parking requirements in favor of more housing, and enable more building in high-income areas. Smaller cities, with less than 50,000 people, would have to add up to 15 extra feet of height to their permits, essentially adding an extra floor of housing, in areas within half-mile from transit.

The bill was endorsed by a diverse group of advocates, including pro-housing organization California YIMBY, the California Labor Federation, and the California Chamber of Commerce. The bill also garnered support from environmental organizations, including Natural Resources Defense Council and California PIRG, because of its potential to reduce the carbon pollution that comes from long driving commutes.

Critics of the bill were equally diverse as advocates and just as vociferous. Some raised concerns over the loss of local control for the city and county planners, who they say know the needs of their communities best. Boards of Supervisors across the state were against the measure, along with dozens of city governments and the League of California Cities, an association of city officials. Suburban dwellers, who argued for their right to preserve single-family homes, were aligned with tenant protection organizations against the legislation, who fiercely opposed the bill over fears that it would only lead to more gentrification.

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The California Senate Appropriations Committee Chair, Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, who opposed the bill, was pivotal to blocking its advancement last year, holding it in his committee. It was given new life when Sen.Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, pulled it into the rules committee in January, so it could reach the Senate floor for a vote before the deadline at the end of the month.

“While many communities still have clear concerns about SB 50, our affordable housing crisis demands we make every attempt to reach agreement on potential solutions,” she said in a statement released on Jan. 17, emphasizing that she wanted the conversations to continue. “I hope the additional time afforded by this action contributes to the ongoing efforts being made by Senator Wiener, housing advocates, and community leaders.”

Amendments failed to appease critics concerns

Wiener embarked on an outreach effort over the last year to meet with opponents to attempt to assuage their fears. As a result, new amendments were introduced at the beginning of this year, allowing more time for communities to make the changes and an offer that cities and counties could propose alternative plans as long as those plans would boost density to the same level as SB 50. It also allowed for a five-year delay for “sensitive communities” considered most at-risk of gentrification.

“It is an additive bill — it is not about replacing existing communities,” he said, arguing against claims he called hyperbolic. He contended that it has the strongest tenant and anti-demolition protections under state law. The legislation, he said, still allows for local design standards, defers to local height limits, and has an affordability provision to encourage low-income housing development.

“We are not all the way there yet on this bill, but we will get there,” he said. “Voters want us to act. They want us to take bold action. They want us to stop the pain.”

Still, senators argued that the bill should be scrapped to give lawmakers more time to iron out remaining issues.

“There are compelling reasons why we need to address this deep and urgent crisis,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, adding that “getting it right is just as urgent.” He urged a no vote.

Sen. Henry Stern, D-Calabasas, echoed Hertzberg’s arguments saying that there was a “fair amount of unity on that we are in a crisis.” But, he added, “I do not believe that in order to meet the challenge of those crises that we have to create new ones.” Stern’s home was lost during the Woolsey Fire that tore through Los Angeles and Ventura counties in 2018, and he said the bill would lead to more homes being built in fire-prone areas.

Others opposed the bill, saying that more work was needed.

“Housing policy is not neat or clean,” said Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, referring to historic racism and class issues baked into policies. “The issue of gentrification is a core fear,” she said, adding that she was heeding her constituents' wishes.

For all the senators that rose against the bill, they were met in nearly equal numbers by those speaking in favor of it during debate on the Senate floor. Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, spoke about his experience as a farmer and how rural areas are being affected by the sprawl spilling out of cities.

“I think there are better places to build than on our fertile soils and where we have water to grow our crops,” he said. “This bill I think makes sense,” he added. “Get this bill out of this house and into the other house and let’s build some homes.”

While the bill still died despite a hail-Mary attempt to call a follow-up vote on Thursday morning, senators promised that the work isn't finished.

Calling SB 50 the "highest-profile legislation" she could remember in a long time, Atkins called for all to come to the table with a compromise.

"SB 50 might not be coming forward right now, but the status quo cannot stand," she said vowing that a housing bill will happen this year. "This is not the end of this story."

Gabrielle Canon is a California Reporter based in Sacramento. You can email her at gcanon@gannett.com or follower on Twitter @GabrielleCanon.