UC Student Association Announces Support for Senator Wiener’s SB 50—the More HOMES Act

Sacramento– Today, the University of California Student Association, the official voice of over 240,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students from all ten UC campuses, has announced support for Senator Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) SB 50 - the More HOMES Act. SB 50 eliminates hyper-low-density zoning near public transit and job centers, thus legalizing apartment buildings and affordable housing in these locations so that more people can live near transit. SB 50 will help make housing more affordable and reduce carbon emissions by allowing people to live closer to transit. It also reduces or eliminates minimum parking requirements for new developments.

“California’s students have been amongst the worst affected by the alarming housing crisis across the state,” said Vignesh Iyer, UCSA Student Basic Needs Officer, and Second-Year Student at UC Santa Cruz. “This is especially the case for students living in Santa Cruz: the 4th worst housing market in the world. Addressing this crisis needs to be accompanied by bold policies that tackle fundamental impediments to accessible housing. This is why SB 50 is a necessary solution. It takes on the challenge of revising outdated zoning codes, and replaces it with progressive and pragmatic new policies that champion affordable housing in the state. The UC student association stands in strong support of this important bill. SB 50 is a huge help for our relative academic success as students not just enrolled full-time, but also as individuals working 2, sometime 3 jobs to afford big non-tuition costs like housing.”

“California’s housing crisis harms all of us, including our students who have to balance huge housing costs with the cost of tuition,” said Senator Wiener. “There are too many stories of students who are living out of their cars or are homeless while trying to receive an education. SB 50 will help ensure that we are building more housing, including affordable housing, so that our students can focus on receiving an education instead of being burdened with absorbent housing costs. I am proud that UCSA has endorsed SB 50, and look forward to working with students throughout California to help get it passed.”  

SB 50 is also supported by the State Building and Construction Trades Council, the California League of Conservation Voters, AARP California, the Natural Resources Defense Council, CALPIRG, Environment California, Habitat for Humanity, the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition, the California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund (CaRLA), the California Apartment Association, and a host of other renter, business, and labor organizations. It also enjoys bi-partisan support from members of the Legislature and support from numerous mayors and city council members from around the state including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has made positive statements regarding the direction of the bill.

SB 50 was introduced on Dec 3, and will be heard in committee on April 2.