In The News

Monday, August 27, 2018

The San Francisco Chronicle, Melody Gutierrez

SACRAMENTO — San Francisco would be authorized to open safe injection facilities for illicit drug users to shoot up and ride out their high under clinical supervision, under a bill state lawmakers approved Monday.

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Sunday, August 26, 2018

The San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Board

The state of California in general and the Bay Area in particular have a housing crisis, but you wouldn’t know it from the journey AB2923 has had through the state Legislature.

This bill, which was introduced by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, and Tim Grayson, D-Concord, offers a simple way to add badly needed new housing where the Bay Area needs it most.

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Friday, August 24, 2018

Los Angeles Sentinel News Service

As the initial wave of first-time, full-time students prepare to begin their newly-free classes at community colleges across California, Assembly leaders debuted a measure stating the legislature’s intent to waive fees for Year Two.  By doing so, an Associates Degree in California will effectively become free.

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Friday, August 24, 2018

Curbed SF, Adam Brinklow

On Thursday the California State Senate passed AB 2923 on a 26-13 vote, potentially setting up BART to develop thousands or even tens of thousands of new homes on property it owns near stations within the next few years.

However, among the dissenting voices on the bill are several BART board members themselves.

The bill, introduced in February by Assemblymember David Chiu of San Francisco and East Bay rep Tim Grayson, would give the BART Board of Directors authority to create housing on land currently being used as BART parking.

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Wednesday, August 15, 2018

The San Francisco Chronicle, Rachel Swan

When Assemblyman David Chiu gazes at a moat of asphalt encircling a suburban BART station, he sees a solution to the region’s housing crisis.

Many BART parking lots fill with cars during the day and turn into empty moonscapes at night, wasting prime land that could be lined with apartments and shops, with compact parking structures for riders, said Chiu, D-San Francisco. Though others share this vision, development of BART parking lots is a contentious issue: Bickering over height limits, aesthetics and parking spaces has long hobbled the transit agency’s ability to get it done.

Chiu is pressing a bill that aims to fix the problem by requiring BART to zone its vacant property for housing and retail, and limiting cities’ ability to obstruct or delay that development.

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Thursday, August 9, 2018

The Mercury News, Katy Murphy

SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers on Thursday unanimously passed a bill to protect tenants from being thrown out of their homes for calling 9-1-1 in an emergency.

The proposal, which now moves to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, takes aim at local ordinances that can result in a tenant being labeled a “nuisance” — a cause for eviction — because they called for help.

“People should be able to call for help without fear of losing their home,” said Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, in an interview Thursday.

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Thursday, August 2, 2018

The San Francisco Examiner, Joshua Sabatini

Mayor London Breed joined Assemblymember David Chiu in Chinatown Thursday to encourage the public to oppose a question about citizenship status the Trump administration has included in the 2020 census, warning it would lead to a population undercount and a loss of federal funding for cities like San Francisco.

Breed and Chiu joined community advocates at Chinese for Affirmative Action to denounce the citizenship question just days before the U.S. Department of Commerce closes the public comment period on the 2020 Census on Aug. 7. Officials fear the question will deter immigrants from participating in the census, leaving them uncounted. And they want it removed.

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