A California Assembly bill that threatened to replace many municipal golf courses with new housing developments has died – at least for now – in committee.
In its most recent iteration, Assembly Bill 672 had proposed unspecified funding for local authorities to shut down municipal courses and use the land for subsidized housing developments, with at least 25 percent of development intended for low-income households. Authored by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, the bill was intended to help with California’s housing crunch and soaring home prices.
The bill had passed through several committees, but it failed to pass the Assembly’s Appropriations Committee on Thursday and will not be put forward for a vote by the full Assembly. As a two-year bill that failed to pass out of committee in either of its two years, it is effectively dead in its current form. It could be revived in upcoming years.
The bill fired up supporters of California’s 200-plus municipal golf courses, who pointed out that many of the base assumptions that led to the bill were misguided. The supporters argued that municipal courses – which have been extremely busy since the COVID-19 pandemic began almost two years ago – serve a diverse set of customers and are frequently the introduction point to the game for many players. The Southern California Golf Association had nicknamed the bill the “Public Golf Endangerment Bill.”