October 18, 2023 –Earlier this month, California passed a bill requiring the state to produce a study and recommendations on expanding the state’s social housing sector. Organizers hope it will be the first step in providing de-commodified shelter on a large scale. As Managing Attorney Richard MarcAntonio writes, “Given the extent to which housing has been commodified — diverted from its role in meeting human needs into an investment vehicle — the bill proposes a bold vision for ending the crisis: meeting the state’s target of building 1.4 million units of below-market-rate housing by 2030 through creating social housing that is “permanently shielded from the speculative market.”