A progressive lawmaker in California is proposing a new measure to allow college students the ability to sleep in their cars as college towns grapple with high housing costs.
Assemblymember Corey Jackson, a Democrat, said the state legislature can build long-term solutions while offering an immediate solution. Jackson said that without a sanctioned, on-campus parking program, some college students are left with no choice but to sleep in their cars somewhere off-campus, in locations that they might not be welcome.
“This just deals with the harsh realities that we find ourselves in,” Jackson said during a recent hearing.
If successful, it would require community colleges and the California State University system to plan for an overnight parking program for students. California community colleges and the CSU system have both indicated their opposition to the measure. They cite a lack of funding and the fact that it does not address long-term solutions.
Jackson told Politico that his colleagues in the Assembly have also expressed opposition to the measure even after offering to delay implementation until funding is available.
“It’s just a difference of opinion,” Jackson told the outlet. “I believe that we are in a housing crisis. We are in a homelessness crisis, and so every single agency needs to do their part to help with the issue.”
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More than 4,000 students in the California State University system were on a housing waitlist last year.
The measure cleared the Assembly Higher Education committee on a party-line vote. Similar measures have failed to pass.
