The Largest Effort to Expand Rent Control in Decades Is on Hold in Sacramento

Thursday, April 6, 2017
Andrew Khouri
Los Angeles Times

Larry Gross, executive director of the Coalition for Economic Survival, a Los Angeles tenant advocacy group, said that despite the delay, the bill’s introduction in itself has created the possibility of changes once considered far-fetched. Before AB 1506, the only repeal bill submitted was one in 2000 that never came up for a vote, according to Bloom’s office.

“It’s the beginning of a groundswell,” Gross said.

The Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee is expected to hold informational hearings as early as May on rising rents, including the role that Costa-Hawkins has played in the state’s affordability crisis, according to the office of committee Chair David Chiu (D-San Francisco), coauthor of the repeal bill with Bloom and Rob Bonta (D-Oakland).

Bloom said the potential for a repeal to hamper construction is an important issue that “we ought to air and discuss carefully,” given that a housing shortage is a major factor in skyrocketing rents.

Still, he said, more must be done to help renters now.

“This bill really places a laser focus on what we can do to address the immediate needs of tenants,” Bloom said.

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