Have Lawmakers given up?

[Janos Sztojka]

Have Lawmakers given up?

This year, it seems as if state lawmakers have given up on dealing with the increasing housing cost. Little to no new solutions have been proposed, and those that have are not being passed through and put into place. The state is at a stand-still and lawmakers seem to take the "I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens" approach.

As litigation passes to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, many people believe that this increase will ease the burden on low and middle-income families and low for economic growth and eventually lead to a reduction in the housing shortage.

"Economists worry that if lawmakers don't fix the housing supply problems, many of the state's efforts to improve the lives of low-income residents will falter. Many legislators cited high housing costs as a reason to boost California's minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next six years, but "'unless something's done to stem housing costs, much of that pay increase could be eaten up by high (LA Times)er rents, 'Thornberg said."