Governor Newsom and legislative leaders have broken a stalemate over the new state budget regarding affordable housing. It would allow the state to sue local governments that fail to live up to their housing goals. It still has to pass in both chambers of the Legislature. It would also permit the court to fine cities and counties found flagrantly underperforming. But Nevada County’s Housing and Community Services Director, Mike Dent, says they’re meeting state goals…

Fines would range from 10-thousand dollars a month all the way up to 600-thousand dollars. But penalties wouldn’t start to add up until a year after the sentence, giving cities and counties time to start building before facing the bill. Meanwhile, Dent is pleased to see that the state budget includes one-point-75 billion dollars to help support local housing production and planning…

The deal also includes a one-billion dollar fund to reward “pro-housing” local governments with new incentives to keep producing.