Price Controls Won’t Build Homes in L.A.
Wildfires in Greater Los Angeles have claimed at least 25 lives and over 12,000 structures. To help the city rebuild faster, California Gov. Gavin Newsom waived burdensome California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reviews and Coastal Act requirements for properties damaged and destroyed by the fires. Newsom also declared a state of emergency that triggered various provisions of California’s anti-price-gouging law.
Suspending CEQA reviews and Coastal Act requirements will expand housing by reducing the time and cost of construction. Outlawing prices from rising according to market forces will produce the opposite effect.
Section B of the anti-price-gouging law, effective until January 2026, forbids sellers from increasing the price of food, emergency services, and housing by more than 10 percent relative to pre-emergency prices. Section C, also active until January of next year, applies the same restriction to reconstruction services. Sections D, E, and F prohibit similar price increases on hotel and motel rates and rent, while outlawing evictions, until March 8.
These sections of the law include some version of the caveat that p
Article from Reason.com
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