Over the last few years, California’s elected officials have finally gotten serious about fixing the housing shortage that is eroding the quality of life here. Lawmakers have passed bills to streamline the development of housing in urban areas and to make it harder for cities to block much-needed housing construction. Voters have approved billions of dollars in new spending to subsidize affordable homes.
And there are more bills pending in Sacramento to boost the supply of housing, which is absolutely essential after many years during which the state failed to build enough units to keep up with population growth.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are trying again to tamp down rising housing costs by expanding rent control and stopping rental price gouging, warning a failure to act this year could result in another costly ballot measure in 2020.
In the wake of a failed ballot measure to expand rent control, California Democratic lawmakers are introducing a host of new measures that aim to increase protections for tenants.
The bills, unveiled Thursday, include efforts to prevent landlords statewide from raising rents above a to-be-determined level, and to let cities and counties restrict rents on more apartments than currently allowed.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California lawmakers are trying again to tamp down rising housing costs by expanding rent control and stopping rental price gouging, warning a failure to act this year could result in another costly ballot measure in 2020.
"Our Legislature has failed to act to address the plight of struggling tenants," Democratic Assemblyman David Chiu said. "That has to change in 2019."
California lacks enough homes to shelter its nearly 40 million people, a situation that drives up the costs of homes and rental units. The federal government considers someone "rent burdened" if they spend more than a third of their income on rent. More than half of California renters meet that threshold.
California lawmakers are trying again to tamp down rising housing costs by expanding rent control and stopping rental price gouging, warning a failure to act this year could result in another costly ballot measure in 2020.
California legislators are trying to revive rent control. This week, state lawmakers introduced a package of new bills that would roll back existing state limits on the policy, and impose new regulations on how much landlords can charge tenants and when they're allowed to kick them out.
We may have recently lost a battle to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, but the fight to better protect tenants from rent-gouging, evictions, and discrimination is still being waged. On Wednesday, a handful of California lawmakers announced a slew of legislation that could have dramatic effects on San Francisco’s renters.
“Recent efforts to address one of the state’s most glaring problems have failed, but the problem has not gone away,” says Assemblymember Richard Bloom, who represents L.A. and Santa Monica. “Skyrocketing rents threaten many people, particularly seniors, the disabled, and young families with children. The time to come together around a solution is now.”
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