SF Bay Area’s $20 billion housing bond is removed from the ballot

The sponsors of , would reduce the threshold to approve local general obligation bonds for housing assistance or public infrastructure to 55%.

The Bay Area Council, a lobbying organization for local businesses, had supported the measure.

“While we step away for now from Regional Measure 4, we must step up our efforts to remove the many barriers that have been erected to block and delay new housing,” said Jim Wunderman, the council’s president and CEO. “This setback is unquestionably disappointing, but it can serve as a powerful motivator for us to get even more aggressive in changing restrictive land use policies and updating outdated laws like the California Environmental Quality Act that for too long have been abused to discourage and deter investors and builders from creating the housing we desperately need.”

Californians will not lack for bond measures in November. In addition to many local school bond measures, there will be two state GO measures; $10 billion for school construction, and $10 billion to combat and prepare for climate change.