The state Assembly has voted 46-22 to approve SB 375, the bill that ties together land use planning, transportation funding, affordable housing planning and greenhouse gas reductions.
The largely party-line vote followed a 40-minute debate in which Republican bill opponents argued the measure would erode local land use control. The mostly Democratic supporters rejected that argument, noting that the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties endorsed SB 375.
"The era of dollar-a-gallon gasoline ... of planning the way we have in the past, that era has passed," Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier (D-Martinez) said while endorsing the legislation.
Senate Bill 375 now returns to the Senate, where members will consider the substantial amendments added to the bill since the Senate approve it last year. Passage seems likely, however, because bill author Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) is in line to become the next Senate president pro tem.
– Paul Shigley
