By Maria Patiño Gutierrez, Deputy Director of Policy and Advocacy

October 30, 2025

Last month, Senate Bill 79 (SB79) was signed into law–changing zoning around rail and bus rapid transit stations to allow developers to build multifamily housing. The law is effective July 2026. As part of the ACT-LA coalition, SAJE successfully advocated for amendments to SB79. These amendments will require projects developed under SB79 to include an allocation of affordable housing for lower-income households. They will also protect rent stabilized (RSO) buildings with three or more units from being targeted for by-right demolition as well as delay SB79 implementation in lower-resource areas. 

With these changes, SB79 gives Los Angeles the opportunity to encourage multifamily housing construction in higher-resource areas. Not only will upzoning in higher-resources areas increase lower-income households’ access to great schools, quality medical care, and more job opportunities, it will also help undo decades of institutional segregation implemented via redlining and downzoning. Plus, it will curb displacement in lower-income areas, giving tenants there more time and resources to prepare for any impending changes to their housing situation.

Now the City of L.A. must take action to confirm the areas where SB79 applies, which is based in part on a complicated formula of land use capacity using local zoning law, and affirm that the CItywide Housing Incentive Program (CHIP) and Renter Protection Ordinance (RPO) apply to SB79’s implementation. This is why SAJE members mobilized to this week’s Planning & Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee meeting: to advocate clearly that communities in lower-resource areas must not be unduly impacted by the implementation of this bill.

As a recent, L.A. City-specific reportback moves through Council, we will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed about its progress. Stay tuned for more information in the weeks to come!