Dear Friends --

I want to share breaking news with you: AB 609, our bill with Asm. Buffy Wicks that will make it easier to build environmentally-beneficial housing in our cities, is going to be signed into law as part of the budget this week!

This is one of the biggest victories we’ve ever won to make it easier to build housing in California.

AB 609 will make it faster, cheaper, and easier to build infill housing in existing urban areas by exempting these homes from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). California YIMBY and the entire YIMBY movement have been building towards this for more than eight years.

I cannot overstate the magnitude or importance of this victory.

Here's why this matters: According to climate scientists, building more urban "infill" housing – homes near jobs, schools, transit, and amenities – is the number one thing most California cities can do to reduce climate pollution. It helps preserve sensitive habitats, agricultural and open lands – the places new homes typically get built when cities make it impossible to build in urban areas. Infill housing is also a critical strategy for ending our housing shortage and affordability crisis.

But NIMBY abuse of CEQA blocks these types of homes in our cities – and leads to more sprawl developments that increase traffic congestion, pollution, land degradation, and loss of habitat.

That doesn't make sense. We must ensure that CEQA helps protect the environment, while also allowing us to address our housing shortage and tackling the climate crisis. We co-sponsored AB 609 with Assemblymember Buffy Wicks to do just that.

AB 609 will create a streamlined permitting process for multi-family housing in existing, developed urban areas by exempting these projects from the California Environmental Quality Act.

This is a major bill – and we overcame all-out opposition from the same forces who always work to kill new housing in existing communities.

This victory wouldn't have happened without your calls, your emails, and your visits to legislators' offices on our 2025 Lobby Day last month.

It's a huge win for the entire YIMBY movement, which spent years educating Californians and policymakers about the urgent need to fix CEQA so it truly protects the environment, rather than act as an impediment to building the housing we need to tackle the climate crisis.

AB 609 will soon be signed into law thanks also to our YIMBY allies in the legislature. When we send YIMBYs to Sacramento, we make it possible to win victories that many observers never thought possible.

There's still more work to be done. And there's an election coming up. In less than 12 months, Californians will vote in the primary on legislative seats – and in the race to pick a new governor. We need to make sure to elect housing champions so that we can win more victories in the years ahead.

Will you give $5 or more per month to celebrate our AB 609 victory and help the California YIMBY Education Fund support more YIMBYs in the 2026 election?

DONATE NOW >>

(If you're already a monthly donor -- we appreciate your support!)

Thank you so much for everything you did to make this amazing victory possible.

Matthew

Matthew Lewis
Communications Director
California YIMBY

California YIMBY is a movement dedicated to ending our state’s housing crisis and building a more inclusive, affordable, and accessible state for ALL Californians. If you were forwarded this email, you can join our movement here. DONATE NOW » Want to keep track of housing issues and the YIMBY movement? Sign up for the HomeWork, our newsletter here.

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