‘Gimme Shelter’: Why it’s so hard to pass major housing bills in California

“California’s housing problems are well-known and straightforward: There are not enough homes, especially for low-income families.
For years, California’s Legislature has tried to pass big bills that address these problems, but they’ve mostly failed. Measures that would have boosted homebuilding or substantially increased funding to build low-income housing all have bitten the dust in the face of opposition from powerful interest groups, such as the construction workers and Realtor lobbies.”