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A brief story about the release of this new state study that links California’s high housing costs with the fees cities and counties charge developers to build. The study is five weeks overdue and only came out because we fought for it. (1/7) latimes.com/california/sto…
In 2017, the state passed a law requiring a study on local government housing fees with an eye toward follow up legislation that would reduce them based on the study’s recommendations. That study, per the law, had to be done by June 30 of this year (2/7) 
June 30 comes and goes and no study. I heard it was in Gov. @GavinNewsom’s hands so on July 8, I asked his office where it was and never got a response. (3/7)
@GavinNewsom Last week, I sent the state housing department a request for the study. On Friday they responded with this nonsense: Be patient until the governor approves the study and we send it to the Legislature. They said they’d give it to me a day after the Legislature saw it. (4/7)
Of course, nothing in the state’s public records law requires the governor and Legislature to review a document before it’s released. I complained to the housing department told Newsom’s office I planned to write about them sitting on the report. It was released on Monday. (5/7)
Newsom’s office did not give me a reason why they were withholding it. But now there could be some action. @AsmGrayson tells me he plans to amend pending legislation to include a section on limiting fees, per the study’s recommendation. (6/7)
If you think it’s good that there are people whose job it is to push for the release of public information — particularly on issues like our state’s housing crisis — please consider subscribing to the @latimes latimes.com/subscriptions/… (7/7)
