Where is the housing help for the middle class?

A former state legislative leader says fellow Democrats in Sacramento have long ignored the housing needs of middle-class Californians. And he has a plan to help them buy a new home. To their credit, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers have been chipping away at regulatory obstacles to home building in recent years, particularly in the just-concluded legislative session.

- George Skelton, Tribune News Service

Gavin Newsom

But the building pace is still far behind what's sorely needed — and what Newsom promised when he first ran for governor seven years ago. Supply doesn't come close to meeting demand and that pushes home prices much higher than millions of middle-class families can afford.

One of the biggest raps on California is that housing costs have skyrocketed out of reach for many. That's a big reason why lots of middle-class folks have fled the so-called Golden State for less expensive regions. “Much of the work by the governor and the Legislature in recent years has focused on homelessness and affordable housing, both of which require taxpayer subsidies and leave the middle class behind,” says former Van Nuys lawmaker Bob Hertzberg, who was an Assembly speaker and Senate majority leader.

“Middle-class Californians just can’t save up enough for a down payment. And the few government programs to assist middle-class buyers are complex, underfunded and are restricted to first-time homebuyers.” He notes the political consequences: “We [Democrats] haven't done enough for them. And they're punishing us in their voting patterns.”