Former Berkeley Mayor and7th State Senate District Sen. Jesse Arregu\u00edn was appointed Chair of the Senate Housing Committee earlier this month. Arregu\u00edn, who remains the Chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, will begin leading the committee Feb. 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since voters elected Arregu\u00edn to the state Senate in November 2024,he has introduced three bills to facilitate housing development, all of which were signed into law.The bills remove barriers to accessory dwelling unit construction, require public agencies to publish housing development application criteria and clarify existing law on local government housing plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Senator is a big proponent of the 3 P\u2019s of housing \u2013 production of new housing, preservation of affordable housing, and protection for tenants,\u201dsaid Stefan Elgstrand, Arregu\u00edn\u2019s press secretary, in an email.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arregu\u00edn succeeds State Sen. Aisha Wahab, former Chair of the Housing Committee. Last April, Wahab opposed an upzoning bill, SB 79<\/a>, which would increase housing construction around major public transportation stops.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wahab worried that SB 79 prioritized the interests of developers over affordability guarantees for tenants, whereas Arregu\u00edn voted for the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHousing is the biggest issue for most people in California and I pushed for real solutions that serve the people not industry\u2026 affordability, prioritizing and protecting renters from displacement or weakened rights, expanding affordable housing development, increasing accountability from cities and developers and challenging false narratives that dominate the topic in the building,\u201d Wahab said in an email.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Elgstrand, Arregu\u00edn believes in a \u201chousing first\u201d approach to houselessness, which means getting unhoused individuals into transitional housing and supporting programs that help participants find stable housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n