Editorial Support for Proposition 45 Continues to Grow Across California

Twenty-six newspapers across California, along with the Wall Street Journal, have now endorsed Proposition 45, the Building an Affordable California Act, and urged a yes vote on the measure to reform the California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA. Support continues to grow as editorial boards recognize the need to lower costs and build essential projects faster.

Prop 45 will modernize the approval process for essential projects by establishing clear, enforceable timelines for agency decisions and court challenges while keeping environmental protections intact and preserving worker protections, tribal protections, and local control.

“Prop. 45 won’t transform the state’s regulatory maze overnight. But it would make California’s planning approval process fairer, less expensive and considerably more predictable,” the San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board writes. “In a state riddled with dysfunction, that would be a rare victory for common sense.”

Cutting Costly Delays to Move Projects Forward Faster

The endorsements are part of a growing coalition that recognizes California’s affordability crisis is tied directly to the time and cost of building essential projects. Under CEQA, years of unnecessary delays drive up costs that are ultimately passed on to consumers, and some projects are abandoned altogether.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board described CEQA as “the bane of businesses and anyone who wants to build in the state.” The newspaper pointed to estimates that Prop 45 would decrease the cost of building a new home by an average of $75,000, which would “reduce costs for critical infrastructure projects, saving taxpayers billions of dollars and potentially lowering utility bills.”

McClatchy California, which includes the Sacramento Bee and four other newspapers, also points out how CEQA provisions have “too often been weaponized” to prevent the construction of housing and other projects, and describes Prop 45 as “long-needed” reform.

“By imposing stricter deadlines on government agencies to complete environmental reviews, Proposition 45 would allow housing, transportation, water and health care projects to move forward more quickly and at lower cost without weakening California’s environmental protections,” the editorial board asserts.

Prop 45 Applies Only to Essential Projects

The ballot measure applies only to essential projects such as housing, water infrastructure, clean energy, transportation infrastructure, hospitals, schools, broadband, and wildfire prevention. The Southern California News Group editorial board, which represents 11 newspapers, including the Orange County Register, explains Prop 45 does not roll back any environmental protections or limit local control over projects. Instead, it is aimed at helping keep projects on time and on budget to make California more affordable.

“Despite claims by opponents, Prop. 45 does not gut a law that requires local agencies to assess the environmental impacts of major projects. Instead, it tweaks the law in sensible and fair-minded ways that provide quicker approval timelines, reduce meritless lawsuits and limit open-ended demands by local agencies,” the editorial board says.

Another California newspaper notes that opponents incorrectly warn any change to the landmark environmental law will open the door to unchecked development and reduce community input, but the ballot language does not support those claims.

“Agencies still review projects, and people can still sue. The difference is that those steps have to finish on time,” the editorial board for The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle writes.

A Diverse Coalition of Supporters

Editorial boards are not the only supporters of Prop 45. More than 180 organizations support it, including civil rights leaders, health care providers, affordable housing advocates, clean energy builders, water providers, agricultural groups, and business organizations. The Bay Area News Group, which includes the San Jose Mercury News and East Bay Times, notes how “eye-opening” it is to see such a broad range of organizations unite behind the common goal of reforming CEQA.

“The California Hospital Association, the California Farm Bureau, the California Senior Alliance and more than a half-dozen clean energy groups are among a vast list of institutions seeking relief from the migraines they face because of the broadly written, vague law,” the editorial board writes.

For more information on Prop 45, visit www.yesonprop45.com.