The Admission Nobody Wanted to Make

Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) said it out loud on C-SPAN's Ceasefire: "There's a lot of Democratic regulation that actually gets in the way" of housing affordability.

He named names. NEPA. CEQA. California's zoning laws. Bera called these out as bipartisan targets — things Democrats and Republicans "certainly should work together" on.

A Democrat blaming Democrat policy for making homes unaffordable is rare enough to warrant attention.

California's Governor Race Gets Honest About It Too

At a California YIMBY forum ahead of the state Democratic Convention on February 25, 2026, Democratic gubernatorial candidates lined up to say the same thing — just louder.

Katie Porter said flat out that California's housing shortage is "primarily the result of local and state regulatory barriers to home building." She added: "Anybody who thinks that localities are not a problem hasn't had to represent Huntington Beach like this girl."

Xavier Becerra agreed: "We've never had good state policy for housing in California. It's all driven by localities."

Eric Swalwell put it plainly: "On housing, California is a blue state held down by red tape." He's proposing 90-day deadlines for agencies to approve or deny housing applications.

Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor, said regulation "has been at the heart of the problem" — but added that construction costs, impact fees, and bloated building codes are the next fight.

Tom Steyer called it "silver buckshot," not a silver bullet — and said technology could cut construction costs by 36% right now if California would let it.

These are all Democrats. Talking about Democratic-created red tape. At a Democratic convention forum.

Congress Is Actually Moving

This isn't just talk. According to The Mercury News, Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-CA) — freshman congressman and former San Jose mayor — introduced a bipartisan bill in September 2025 with Republican co-sponsor Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE), chair of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.

The bill aims to make it easier for cities to use federal funds for affordable housing. It's part of a broader congressional housing package that includes dozens of proposals to cut housing regulations and tie federal dollars to whether local governments are actually allowing new construction.

Bera confirmed on C-SPAN that a housing package co-developed by Rep. French Hill (R-AR) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) through the Financial Services Committee could come to a vote "as early as next week."

Bipartisan housing legislation is moving through a Republican-controlled Congress with Democrats who are publicly admitting their own regulations caused the problem.

What Mainstream Coverage Is Getting Wrong

Most housing coverage frames this as a funding problem. More government money, more affordable units. That's the 2020 Democratic Party platform in a nutshell — per the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the Dem platform called for "supercharging" the Housing Trust Fund, expanding vouchers, and pumping federal dollars into subsidized construction.

That framing dodges the core issue entirely.

You cannot subsidize your way out of a supply shortage caused by regulations that make it illegal to build. If it takes years and millions in compliance costs just to get permits, no amount of Housing Trust Fund money fixes that.

The candidates at the YIMBY forum understand this. Swalwell's 90-day deadline idea is straightforward — agencies either approve or deny, with no endless reviews or death by process.

Matthew Lewis, communications director at California YIMBY, told The Mercury News that even with California's recent legislative wins, "it often remains a challenge to convince state and local lawmakers to embrace policies advocates say are necessary." He specifically called out resistance from labor unions, NIMBY neighbors, and politicians afraid of gentrification accusations.

Democratic politicians are admitting the problem publicly while Democratic-aligned interest groups keep blocking the solutions locally. The contradiction goes largely unexamined in mainstream coverage.

The Gas Tax Distraction

Bera also said on C-SPAN he opposes suspending the federal gas tax — arguing he's "not convinced that, if we did suspend the gas tax, if those savings would be passed on to the consumer."

That's a fair skepticism. Pass-through to consumers is a real economic question. But Bera represents a California district where the STATE gas tax is among the highest in the country. He acknowledged that California "can do some stuff" to reduce the burden locally.

He didn't say what, exactly. And he didn't commit to anything.

What This Means for Regular People

If you're renting in California right now, you already know the answer to Brian Hanlon's question — "Is California affordable?" — is no.

Median home prices in major California metros are hovering above $800,000. Rents in San Francisco and Los Angeles remain brutal. Young families are leaving the state entirely.

There is now genuine bipartisan acknowledgment that regulation — not just funding — is the core problem. Democrats are saying it publicly. Republicans have been saying it for years. There's a bill moving in Congress.

The obstacle remains the same: local governments, unions, and entrenched interests that built these regulatory walls are still fighting to keep them up.

Talking about tearing down red tape is easy. Actually doing it means telling powerful local interests no. California has been talking about this for decades. The rooftops won't go up until the politicians stop rewarding the people blocking them.