San Jose: Mayor Liccardo to Testify Before California Senate on SB7
The Californer/10121695

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 22, 2021

Media Contact

Rachel Davis, Press Secretary, Office of Mayor Liccardo, 408.712.9149, rachel.davis@sanjoseca.gov

SAN JOSÉ, CA -- This afternoon, Mayor Sam Liccardo will be one of two lead witnesses at the California State Senate hearing on SB7, a proposal to extend AB900 for five years. Both bills streamline the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) timetables for approval and litigation that otherwise would stall projects that have highly beneficial environmental attributes, like reducing GHG emissions, satisfying LEED standards, smart growth, build-out of transit, and more.

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"This bill will enable San Jose's transformative Downtown West project to move forward--bringing thousands of units of affordable housing and tens of thousands of jobs to our city-- just at the moment amid our recovery when our community needs it the most," said Mayor Sam Liccardo. "I am grateful to Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins for authoring SB7, and to the rest of the Senate and Assembly leadership for their support of this important legislation."

Mayor Liccardo has long supported CEQA reform to accelerate the production of affordable housing and transit, as well as to create jobs, including from San Jose's Downtown West project, which comprises some of the most impactful and broadly beneficial private sector investments in California history, confronting multiple crises with real solutions:

• 7 million square feet of office, retail, hotel, and restaurants producing 5,700 prevailing wage construction jobs, and with Google's longer-term employment of thousands of Californians;
• 4,000 high-density homes, at least 25% of which will be rent-restricted and affordable;
• Creation of a mass transit hub connecting all major Bay Area transit under LEED Gold standard, with net-zero GHG emissions, and the development of 15 acres of parks and green spaces and;
• Millions in vital community benefits for anti-displacement efforts, job training, education, and homelessness solutions.

Mayor Liccardo is the chair of the Big City Mayors, a coalition of mayors from California's 13 largest cities. Several of these large cities have certified AB900 projects delayed from the impacts of the pandemic.

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Read Mayor Liccardo's full testimony here.

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About the City of San José

With more than one million residents, San José comprises the 10^th largest city in the United States, and one of its most diverse cities.  San José's transformation into a global innovation center in the heart of Silicon Valley has resulted in the world's greatest concentration of technology talent and development.

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