NFIB Reacts to Passage of Key Housing Package Bills

Small businesses urge Governor Brown to veto SB 2 (Atkins); SB 3 (Beall); and SB 35 (Wiener)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
National Federation of Independent Business/California
Contact: Shawn Lewis (916) 342-9315; [email protected]
Follow: @NFIB_CA and on Facebook

NFIB Reacts to Passage of Key Housing Package Bills
Small businesses urge Governor Brown to veto SB 2 (Atkins); SB 3 (Beall); and SB 35 (Wiener)

SACRAMENTO, Calif., September 15, 2017 – Following the California Legislature passing three key affordable housing bills today, NFIB California State Executive Director Tom Scott issued the following statement on behalf of our 22,000 small business members:

“Unfortunately, Senate Bill 2 (Atkins), Senate Bill 3 (Beall), and Senate Bill 35 (Weiner) do nothing to address the fundamental economic realities which have caused our affordable housing crisis, but instead raise more taxes on struggling small businesses and working families, put California further into debt, and drastically raise labor costs to build a home. SB 2 is a direct, regressive $75-225 tax on real estate documents, paid for by those who are least able to afford it such as widows, the elderly, and homeowners facing foreclosure. SB 3 borrows $4 billion, which will ultimately cost taxpayers $8 billion, to potentially build 70,000 subsidized housing units over 5 years—certainly not even putting a dent in the 180,000 new homes needed each year. And SB 35 fails to streamline or reform a single regulation while decimating local control, on top of mandating prevailing wage which would add an average $84,000 to the cost of each new home.

“We cannot tax, fee, and mandate our way to housing affordability in this state. Since these bills only increase the cost of housing in this state, we are urging Governor Brown to veto SB 2, 3, and 35.”

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For more than 70 years, the National Federation of Independent Business has been the Voice of Small Business, taking the message from Main Street to the halls of Congress and all 50 state legislatures. NFIB has 350,000 dues-paying members nationally, with over 22,000 in California. NFIB annually surveys its members on state and federal issues vital to their survival as America’s economic engine and biggest creator of jobs. To learn more visit www.NFIB.com/california