December 7, 2022

San Francisco Chronicle: ‘YIGBY’ bill to let churches build affordable housing is being revived — and a key shift could improve its chances

The housing fight that gave rise to the moniker YIGBY — or Yes in God’s Back Yard — is coming back to the California Capitol.
December 7, 2022

The Mercury News: Building homes in ‘God’s backyard’: New bill would permit housing at California’s churches, mosques and synagogues

Just one day after the start of the new legislative session, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced Senate Bill 4 — the “Affordable Housing on Faith Lands Act.”
December 8, 2022

Los Angeles Times: California churches, nonprofit colleges could build homes on their land with proposed law

California nonprofit colleges and faith organizations such as churches, mosques and synagogues would be able to build affordable homes on their land under a bill introduced Tuesday to help alleviate the state’s worsening housing shortage and homelessness crisis.
February 23, 2023

Davis Vanguard: Affordable Housing Bill Gets Union Support

Sacramento, CA – This week, two of the largest unions in California—SEIU (Service Employees International Union) and CSEA (California State Employees Association)—endorsed SB 4, a bill that would allow religious institutions and nonprofit colleges to build 100% affordable housing projects on their property by-right, even if local zoning prevents this housing. The two unions—collectively representing nearly one million members—join the California Conference of Carpenters in support of the legislation, which was introduced as SB 899 in 2020 and passed the…