IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Carlos Rodriguez, chief executive officer of the Baldy View chapter of the Building Industry Association of Southern California offered praise about the state’s Democratic leader during the chapter’s annual housing conference, which was held Friday in Ontario.
Rodriguez mentioned Governor Newsom’s support of Senate Bill 201, which was incorporated into the $215 billion state budget, during his opening remarks to about 250 people at the DoubleTree Hotel.
That bill creates incentives for cities to be build houses, but will levy six-figure fines against those that don’t build enough to keep up with demand in their community.
Rodriguez complimented the policy and said the bill is something homebuilders will probably appreciate, since it should lead to more houses being built.
“I think it shows that Gov. Newsom understands how important housing is to the state’s economy, and that’s a good thing,” Rodriguez said. “But we just heard about this, and we just told our members about it. We don’t know yet what their reaction is.”
Newsom’s, budget takes effect today.
Otherwise, the gathering – which featured three panel discussions – was dominated by what Rodriguez called the state’s “grave housing crisis,” i.e., sales are down and not enough houses are being built that middle-class people can afford to buy.
On this, there were few calls for government intervention.
“I’m a die-hard capitalist, so I believe supply will solve every problem, and I believe supply will solve this problem,” said Phil Burum, president of the Badly View chapter. “I don’t think we need to be changing policies.”
