Sacramento Report: LaShae Sharp-Collins Wants More Homes Not Just Housing

First term Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins wants to build homes and rebuild social safety nets in California and in her district in southeastern San Diego. 

Sharp-Collins was elected in November, replacing former Assemblymember Akilah Weber Pierson, who was elected to the state Senate. I sat down with Sharp-Collins last week to discuss her priorities for the 79th District, which includes La Mesa, Lemon Grove and parts of the city of San Diego. 

The district skews heavily blue, with twice as many Democratic registered voters as Republicans, according to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters. Its population is about 43 percent Latino, 27 percent White, 13 percent Asian and 11 percent Black.   

“This is the most diverse district, in my personal opinion,” she said. “I’m born and raised here. I love it.” 

Sharp-Collins graduated from Lincoln High School, then attended San Diego State University to earn a bachelor’s degree in Africana studies, a master’s degree in educational counseling and a doctorate in educational leadership, she said. She taught as an adjunct professor at San Diego State, worked for the San Diego County Office of Education and served as district director for Pierson Weber in the same seat. 

““This district is truly my heart,” she said. 

Not just housing but homes: The area includes a host of small businesses, restaurants and nonprofits. But constituents struggle with cost of living, childcare, housing and education, she said. 

While many San Diego leaders are focused on adding dense, multi-family housing to meet acute housing shortages, Sharp Collins thinks her district needs a different approach. 

“We need more single-family homes,” she told me. “People are moving to these communities that were single family home communities and are now seeing that some of the lots are being purchased, and now you’re getting apartments and other things going up. That’s not the reason people move into the area. It’s to be able to have single-family homes in the community and raise their children and grandchildren.” 

While apartments form part of what she refers to as a continuum of housing, she argues that individual homes are what build economic security and anchor people to the community. 

Apartments are “not promoting generational wealth,” she said. “That’s not promoting home ownership.”  

Sharp Collins said people receiving housing aid can receive down payment assistance and other services to help first time home buyers, and public officials should help them take advantage of that. 

“We do need to train them and show them we have this voucher program where we can assist you with the down payment on the first-time homebuyer program,” she said. 

How to make CalWorks work: Sharp Collins is also proposing updates to the Calworks program, which offers temporary cash assistance to families with children. 

She’s asking for $250 million in the state budget to accommodate an increased caseload of people eligible for that aid.  

“So people who are eligible can officially receive the eligibility and not be sitting there for six months or even a year waiting for the paperwork to be processed,” she said. 

Her bill AB 1324 would change the work limit so people receiving the aid can put in more hours and still receive assistance, recognizing that many working people still can’t make ends meet. The bill would also provide benefits to striking workers. 

Sharp Collins wants to make sure the CalWorks employment program is preparing clients for high-quality, well-paid jobs. 

“I’m focused on jobs that are able to elevate families out of poverty,” she said. 

Top legislative priorities: As the federal government pushes to eliminate or penalize Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, Sharp Collins wants to expand it. 

Her bill AB 766, part of the California Legislate Black Caucus “Road to Repair” package, would require all government agencies to undertake equity analysis before they undertake any budgets or other programming, “to more effectively advance racial equity and to respond to identified disparities.” 

Another bill in that package, AB 785, would fund community solutions to decrease violence in neighborhoods and schools. 

And her “three strikes” reform bill, AB 1279, would prevent judges or prosecutors from counting a juvenile conviction as a prior felony conviction, when considering sentence enhancement against adult defendants. 

She’s confident that San Diego’s priorities are heard in Sacramento: “They actually see us as a force to be reckoned with.” 

Gas Prices Could Soar Over $8 Per Gallon Next Year 

State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones is urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to reform California’s gas policy, as a USC professor warns that refinery shutdowns could drive gas prices up to $8.43 per gallon in 2026. 

“I am writing to express deep concern about the announced closures of the Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles by the end of 2025 and the Valero refinery in Benicia by April 2026,” Jones wrote in a letter to Newsom this week. “These two facilities produce approximately 20% of California’s in-state gasoline supply. Their loss poses serious risks to fuel prices, job stability, and the state’s long-term energy security.” 

Newsom’s office stated that he is working with refineries “to ensure a safe, affordable and reliable supply of gasoline” and thanked Senate Republicans for highlighting the issue. Jones has also criticized California’s gas surcharges, but environmentalists point out that gas taxes are the price Californians pay to improve air quality. 

Supervisor Race Becomes MAGA Battle 

Democratic Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre played the Trump card against her Republican opponent Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, accusing him of “doubling down on the Republican MAGA plan to slash funding for Medi-Cal and children’s nutrition programs South County families rely on most.” 

But McCann told our Jim Hinch that he didn’t advocate cutting those programs. County staff urged the board to cut staff who administer those programs, and McCann opposed tapping county reserves to restore the positions. 

The real difference is the candidates’ appetites to use $355 million in rainy day funds to backfill expected federal cuts to Medicaid and other programs. 

You can read about the county budget debate, and how that defines candidates in the Supervisor race in Hinch’s story here. 

The Sacramento Report runs every Friday. Do you have tips, ideas or questions? Send them to me at deborah@voiceofsandiego.org. 

The post Sacramento Report: LaShae Sharp-Collins Wants More Homes Not Just Housing appeared first on Voice of San Diego.