Our state’s drastically short supply of affordable homes is pinching nearly every Californian’s pocketbook – that much Dan Walters is right about (“Scarcity raises cost of housing,” March 4).

But while market forces are responsible for a big chunk of California’s housing problem, state policy choices have hurt the lowest-income Californians even more.

Action from the state Capitol can provide relief to Californians who are being squeezed by the nation’s least affordable rentals and into the country’s most overcrowded apartments. To meet the range of housing needs in our state, lawmakers must ease building restrictions and invest a significant portion of the state’s multibillion-dollar surplus into proven, affordable home programs.

Since 2008, state and federal investment in affordable homes has plummeted by 68 percent. Without this investment, California stands to lose billions of dollars in federal and private financing and will miss critical opportunities to build affordable rental homes for low-wage workers, seniors, veterans, the disabled and the homeless.