An America First Housing Solution Starts With Fixing California

Originally published by the California Globe

Americans are exhausted by the rising cost of living. But nowhere is the crisis hitting harder than in California, a state once synonymous with opportunity and upward mobility. Today, it has become a cautionary tale: a place where working people with good jobs still can’t afford a modest home, where insurance rates rival car payments, and where government has turned the basic act of building shelter into a regulatory marathon.

If we are serious about an America First solution- one that prioritizes working families, not bureaucracies – California’s housing system is the place to start. The state’s housing crisis is manufactured. It is the direct result of policy choices – many well-intentioned, most counterproductive – that have turned homeownership from an achievable goal into a luxury.

Consider one simple comparison. In many suburban communities, a home in California costs $200,000 more than an identical home in Nevada. Same footprint, floorplan, and building materials. The only meaningful difference is the weight of California’s permitting, environmental, tax, and regulatory structure. Families are not paying for better homes; they are paying for government.

To read the full article, click here.