Rent Control Law in Crosshairs During State Assembly Recess

By Diego Aguilar-Canabal : thebaycitybeacon – excerpt

A broad swath of activists—from union leaders, to democratic socialists, and tenant advocates—will descend upon Sacramento this morning to demand swift action on the Costa Hawkins Act, a longstanding restriction on rent control. Assembly Bill 1506, introduced last year by Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D – Santa Monica), failed to pass through committee after Bloom faced overwhelming opposition from homeowners and real estate groups.

The bill is co-sponsored by Assemblymembers Rob Bonta (D – Oakland) and David Chiu (D – SF), as well as State Senator Ben Allen (D – Redondo Beach), and consists of a single sentence: to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Act of 1995…

The Housing Now campaign, mobilized in part by the SEIU Local 1021, is bringing rent control advocates to testify before the Assembly’s Housing and Community Development Committee, which is chaired by Assemblymember Chiu. According to Chiu’s office, the meeting is scheduled as an informational hearing on “The Plight of Renters in the Housing Affordability Crisis.” This comes on the heels of a massive phone-banking campaign by the Democratic Socialists of America to call members of the State Assembly in support of AB 1506… (more)

Sounds like a promising start to the new year. California residents need a break from gentrification and this is a good first step in that direction. We talked to activists supporting this at the state level and here is an update from people who went to Sacramento this week.

UPDATE:

“Wiener signed onto support repeal of Costa-Hawkins when we had our town hall in February but has been silent since then. He has suggested to folks that it would be an easier sell to repeal parts of it (we want a full repeal). Ting has been silent as well. We want them both to sign on as co-sponsors of the repeal bill. Chiu is one of the sponsors of the bill. He is also head of the Housing Committee in Sacramento, which mean he has a lot of power to bring the bill to a vote in his committee and get it to the floor. If returning control to local governments is important to you, let your state reps know you want to repeal Costa-Hawkins by passing AB 1506. You may also sign the petition and help those who are working on this issue by sharing this to your friends around the state. http://www.tenantstogether.org/campaigns/repeal-costa-hawkins-rental-housing-act