A California bill that would allow authorities to use public funds to purchase lots ravaged by wildfires and build low-income housing has been paused following intense criticism. CALIFORNIA: Legislation Would Allow Authorities To Transform Wildfire-Devastated Lots Into Low-Income Housing State Senator Ben Allen announced the pause. "When we first introduced SB 549, we knew that it would be difficult to pull together a framework that would be both effective and gain widespread support within the tight timelines of this year's legislative calendar," Allen said. "I appreciate the input of the folks who have weighed in about the bill, and along with legislative colleagues have decided that it would be best for us to pause the bill until next year to give us more time to see if we can get it right," he continued. "For me to feel comfortable proceeding, the bill will have to be deeply grounded in community input, empowerment, and decision-making, including the support of the impacted councilmembers," he added. My statement on pausing SB 549. pic.twitter.com/OXye2hsETp — Ben Allen (@BenAllenCA) July 17, 2025 “Senate Bill 549 would allow property taxes to fund what lawmakers are calling ‘Resilient Rebuilding Authorities’ that could buy ruined land and obtain loans to rebuild that will require at least 40% of their funding be earmarked for building multi-unit low-income housing on lots where single family homes once stood in Altadena, Pacific Palisades, Malibu and other devastated areas,” Los Angeles Magazine wrote earlier this week. LA County would buy fire-ravaged land for low-income housing projects under new billhttps://t.co/gDubxxmuoi — The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 15, 2025 FOX 11 Los Angeles provided further details: The controversial Senate Bill 549 was approved by the California Senate. However, many people in Pacific Palisades have been strongly voicing their concerns. "It does sound quite a bit like Big Brother deciding what’s good for all of us," said Aileen Haugh, a resident. "It’s irritating to think that other people [not local residents] are going to make decisions of what gets built and how it gets built." In its most simply described meaning, SB 549 would allow Los Angeles County to make a so-called "Resilient Rebuilding Authority." The group would target housing shortages and issues with rebuilding from the Palisades Fire. It would also buy fire-destroyed lots and rebuild a percentage of them for low-income housing units. "We had some low-income housing, and we had affordable housing," said Jessica Rogers. "We want what we had on January 7 [the day of the Palisades Fire]. Nothing more, nothing less." Rogers is president of the Pacific Palisades Residents’ Association. When she heard about the new possible law, Rogers wrote a letter voicing opposition to lawmakers. In less than a week, more than 23,000 locals have signed along with the resistance. "[Lawmakers are] asking for a land grab," said Rogers. "This is a rebuild, this is not a politicians get to decide a pet project on what they’re going to decide in the Palisades. This is residents of this community get to decide what happens in our rebuild phase, period." Separately, Gov. Gavin Newsom allocated $101 million to “help rapidly rebuild critically needed, affordable multifamily rental housing in the fire-devastated Los Angeles region.” “Los Angeles has taken significant steps to rebuild after January’s fires, but the devastation is significant and there remains a long road ahead. Thousands of families – from Pacific Palisades to Altadena to Malibu – are still displaced and we owe it to them to help. The funding we’re announcing today will accelerate the development of affordable multifamily rental housing so that those rebuilding their lives after this tragedy have access to a safe, affordable place to come home to,” Newsom said. SB 549 PAUSED… but don’t get too comfortable. Sen. Ben Allen hit the brakes only after community backlash exposed the bill for what it really was: a top-down power grab dressed up as “rebuilding.” Meanwhile, Newsom just dropped $101M to push state-controlled density housing… pic.twitter.com/QubEJlJUC1 — Cece Woods (@cecewoodsmedia) July 17, 2025 More from The Center Square: At the Assembly Local Government Committee hearing on Wednesday night, Allen conceded the bill’s lack of clear path for community input into the RRA’s decision making, while hinting at future changes to the legislation in 2026. “I’m not looking to jam this down people’s throats,” said Allen. “On the community input question, it doesn’t cut out community input. It just doesn’t specify one path or another, so we’re going to have to build significant community input into the governance structure in order for this to pass the smell test with the locals.” One of the bill’s two sections would create a Resilient Rebuilding Authority, which would be authorized to “purchase lots” for “land banking” and “open space,” buy and sell construction materials and equipment “in bulk,” deploy “subsidized financing,” and replace “affordable housing” lost in the Palisades, Eaton and Hughes fires. Under the city of Los Angeles' Ordinance 188481, in so-called “higher opportunity” areas such as the Pacific Palisades, all destroyed “protected” housing — which includes all apartments built before October 1978 — must be replaced by “low income units.” This ordinance — modeled on state law — means that even if these rent-controlled, but not income-restricted units were legally occupied by households of moderate income or higher, these households may not be able to return to the rebuilt “affordable” units due if their perhaps modest incomes exceed the required low-income limit. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office repeated the Los Angeles Times’ description of the RRA as “a new local authority” that would “buy burned lots, rebuild homes and offer them back at discounted rates to the original owners.” It’s unclear how many homeowners who cannot afford to rebuild and would have sold to the RRA would have been able to afford to purchase the finished homes, even at discounted rates, given the high cost of construction in coastal Southern California. Before the fire, the median home listed in the Pacific Palisades for $4.6 million.