October 29, 2026
By Marion Moses
California veterans who served our country should not have to fight another battle just to find a place to call home. Yet for too many veterans, affordable housing remains out of reach, and California’s outdated system for approving and building new homes is making the problem worse.
I served 15 years in the military, enlisting as a personnel specialist and later as a section NCOIC (noncommissioned officer in charge) and platoon sergeant. During my time in service, I deployed to Bosnia, Macedonia and Iraq. After my military service, I became a veteran services officer in California. Today, I serve as the executive director of the California Association of County Veterans Service Officers, whose members’ mission is to help veterans and their families access the benefits and support they earned through their service.
That’s why I support Proposition 45, the Building an Affordable California Act, and why the California Association of County Veterans Service Officers has endorsed it. Prop 45 would cut costly red tape and unnecessary delays so California can build more affordable housing, shelters, hospitals and health care facilities faster and more affordably.
I know firsthand how important stable housing is to a veteran’s health, employment and family. I also know how difficult it can be to find. Some of the hardest conversations are with veterans who have a housing voucher in hand but cannot find an affordable home to use it in. The problem isn’t just that California needs more housing. It’s that even when affordable housing projects are approved, years of unnecessary delays and lawsuits can prevent those homes from getting built.
Prop 45 would establish clear, enforceable timelines for the review and approval of essential projects, including affordable housing and shelters, as well as hospitals and healthcare facilities. It would also require courts to resolve legal challenges to those projects within 270 days. For veterans, that means affordable homes and the clinics and hospitals they rely on can open in a reasonable amount of time instead of sitting in limbo for years.
Consider Liberty Lane apartments in Redlands.
The 80-unit affordable housing development was designed primarily for veterans experiencing homelessness or at risk of losing their homes. The city approved the project in 2017, but a not-in-my-back-yard opposition group filed a lawsuit challenging its environmental review, claiming the project had not adequately studied noise impacts.
In 2018, a San Bernardino County Superior Court judge rejected every one of the group’s claims.
But winning in court didn’t undo the damage. The lawsuit had already created enough uncertainty to cost the project critical financing, including federal Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing resources. Developers then spent years trying to piece the funding back together.
Liberty Lane finally opened this spring, nine years after it was approved.
And the cost? What was originally a $30 million project ended up costing $51 million. That’s $21 million more, or an additional $262,500 for each of its 80 homes.
Think about that. A housing project intended to help homeless veterans was approved by the city. Opponents sued and lost. Yet veterans still waited nine years for those homes, while the price tag increased by 70%.
That’s not a system that’s working for veterans. And it’s certainly not a system that’s working for California taxpayers.
Unfortunately, Liberty Lane is far from the only housing project caught in California’s bureaucratic approval process.
Permitting delays alone can add more than $75,000 to the cost of a new home in California, driving up rents and mortgages. Affordable housing developments are especially vulnerable because they rely on limited public funding and tax credits that can disappear when projects are delayed.
Every year spent fighting lawsuits or navigating bureaucratic red tape means higher construction costs, fewer affordable homes and more veterans waiting for housing.
Prop 45 would help fix this broken system. The measure establishes clear, enforceable timelines for environmental review and project approvals while requiring courts to resolve legal challenges within 270 days.
For projects like Liberty Lane, that means opponents can still raise legitimate environmental concerns and challenge approvals in court. But they cannot use years of litigation to keep desperately needed affordable housing in limbo indefinitely.
Importantly, Prop 45 maintains environmental review, public participation and local control. Cities and counties retain their authority to approve or deny projects. The measure simply requires that decisions be made within reasonable timelines instead of dragging on for years.
And the benefits go beyond housing. Prop 45 would also streamline approvals for hospitals, healthcare clinics, water infrastructure, clean energy, roads, schools and other essential projects that veterans and their families rely on every day.
As someone who served our country and now spends my days serving those who wore the uniform, I believe we have an obligation to ensure veterans can access the basic necessities they need to thrive. That starts with a safe, stable and affordable place to live.
Veterans shouldn’t have to wait nine years for a home they can afford. And taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay $21 million more because of unnecessary delays.
California can protect the environment, give communities a voice and still build the housing our veterans desperately need.
It’s time to fix what’s broken.
Marion Moses is the executive director of the California Association of County Veterans Service Officers.