The three major pieces of the deal include a $4 billion housing bond, a new $75 fee on real estate transaction documents, and a bill to streamline building regulations that can hamper developers looking to construct low-cost apartments and homes. The major bills would: Put a $4 billion bond on the 2018 ballot, with $3 billion for existing housing programs and $1 billion for veterans’ housing; allow developers to bypass some local development regulations when building affordable apartment complexes; and establish a $75 fee on real estate transaction documents such as those signed when refinancing a mortgage. Jerry Brown a package of bills Friday aimed at easing the state’s affordable housing crisis, after a handful of hesitant Democrats were persuaded to back a new fee to generate money for subsidized housing. “For any of you who are not yet ready to vote for this bill,” said Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, who has championed the housing effort, “I ask you to do one thing — to think about the face of your constituents.”

One Republican lawmaker, Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, of San Diego, supported it.
Key housing bills pass in California, the U.S. state with the highest number of people suffering from homelessness and poverty.