SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Renters and housing advocates are urging Governor Gavin Newsom to support a rent control ballot initiative eligible to appear on the November 2024 ballot.
Supporters of the Justice for Renters Act, as it's called, gathered on the steps of the state Capitol Wednesday afternoon.
Organizers brought more than 730,000 letters from constituents asking for Newsom's support.
If approved by voters, the proposal would allow local governments to set limits on how much rent can be raised on housing. The goal of supporters is to stop skyrocketing rents.
"There are a lot of devastating stories where people just can't afford to live in California any longer," said Susie Shannon, Campaign Manager for Justice for Renters Act. "We have low-income seniors who are really struggling, people who work in retail. The rents are just too high."
It’s affecting people like Monica Madrid, a Sacramento State alum who said she and her friends from college are still renting together.
"There's four of us. We all have degrees. We're in our careers and we cannot afford to rent apartments because it's $1,500, $1,800 for rent," she said.
Under current law, California caps rent increases at a maximum of 10% per year, but the tenant protections don't apply to everyone.
The ballot initiative would expand what types of housing qualify for rent control.
Two similar rent control propositions failed to make it past voters in 2018 and 2020. Newsom opposed the 2020 measure.
We reached out to the Governor's office for comment. They forwarded us to Newsom's campaign team, saying the issue is election related.
In a statement, Nathan Click with the campaign team and spokesman with Californians for Responsible Housing said:
“Californians have twice overwhelmingly rejected this initiative because it will make our affordable housing and homelessness crisis worse. Studies by U.C. Berkeley, Stanford, and University of Southern California all show that extreme price controls on rental units discourage new housing construction and reduce availability of housing. This measure would make rent even more expensive for those looking to find a place to live and push even more Californians into homelessness. It would also eliminate homeowner protections and allow the unelected bureaucrats to tell single-family homeowners how much they can charge to rent out their homes – even if they just want to rent a single room. Mom and pop landlords are already struggling -- this would put many of them out of business and into bankruptcy and force others to use their property for other uses than housing.”
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