Following the pandemic, local governments and the State of California have the opportunity to support the construction of affordable housing, but with financial pressure from the public health crisis, those same governments could also impede it.

"Coming out of the pandemic to stimulate the economy, construction is probably the quickest, easiest clear cut way to start creating energy within our economy and also to solve our housing crisis to start construction new units," Edward Campbell, a partner in Nixon Peabody's affordable housing and real estate practice group, tells GlobeSt.com. "However, I don't think that local governments or even the State will make a huge push to start removing regulatory barriers to development."

Financial barriers are a major reason that governments could avoid removing regulatory hurdles. "The impact fees is one of the cleanest ways for local governments and the state to generate revenue right now. Prior to the pandemic, there was a big push against these local impact fees," says Campbell. "That has dried up recently. There has been the move to amend and change and Prop 13 to allow commercial properties to adjust property taxes more frequently. There has also bee a grassroots effort to reform that segment of the state tax code. Given the strains that we are seeing, raising taxes on people is going to be a hard push by legislators."