Costa Hawkins Act

In a major victory for landlords, a state bill introduced by Santa Monica lawmaker Richard Bloom that would allow California cities to expand rent control failed to pass out of committee Thursday.

AB 1506 -- which failed on a 3-2 vote in a raucous meeting of the Assembly's Housing and Community Development Committee -- would repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act that dealt a major blow to rent control in cities such as Santa Monica.

The effort to allow cities to impose effective rent controls failed in a state Assembly committee today after two Democrats refused to vote for the bill.

The repeal of the Costa-Hawkins Act needed four votes to move forward. It died, 3-2, when Assemblymembers Jim Wood of Healdsburg and Ed Chau of Arcadia abstained from voting.

That continues a disturbing pattern of Democrats siding with the real-estate industry on tenant issues. Demorats control the Governor’s Office and have super-majorities in both houses of the Legislature, but the landlords still seem to rule.

A bill aimed at expanding rent control in California won't be moving forward in the Legislature.

The legislation by Assemblyman Richard Bloom of Santa Monica was one vote short of passage Thursday in an Assembly committee.

The Democrat's proposal would have repealed a 1995 law that prohibits cities from placing rent control on properties built after that year. It would not have mandated new rent control.

Bloom says tenants across California need relief from high rents.

Hundreds of housing activists and pro-rent control tenants are expected to flood the Capitol this morning for a hearing on a controversial bill shelved last year amid intense opposition from the state’s real estate industry.

Assembly Bill 1506 from Democratic Assemblyman Richard Bloom of Santa Monica would repeal a state law known as Costa-Hawkins, clearing the way for California cities and counties to strengthen local rent control measures.

A closely watched attempt to repeal a California law restricting rent control died at a packed committee hearing Thursday, but proponents vow to keep fighting — and, if they get nowhere in the Capitol, to take the issue straight to voters.

“I think there is no choice but for the conversation to continue and for us to try to find common ground,” said a disappointed Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, the main author of Assembly Bill 1506.

California lawmakers killed a bill Thursday that likely would have expanded rent control laws in cities and counties, setting the stage for a protracted statewide battle over how to rein in the state’s soaring housing costs.

Democratic Assemblyman Richard Bloom’s Assembly Bill 1506 died in the Assembly’s housing committee.

The 3-2 vote set off protests in the committee room, with angry tenants chanting, “Housing is a human right,” and “Repeal Costa-Hawkins.” The bill needed four votes to get out of committee.

State legislation that would have expanded rent control in California failed Thursday after a lengthy and heated debate that brought landlord and tenant groups from across the state to the Capitol.

At issue was a bill that would have repealed a nearly quarter-century-old law that prohibits cities and counties from implementing most new rent control policies. The measure died after four members of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, including Democrats Ed Chau of Arcadia and Jim Wood of Healdsburg, declined to support it.

Assembly Closes Door on Legislative Fix

Last week, the Democratic-controlled Assembly Housing Committee voted down a bill to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Act. And with committee members like Ed Chau, who represents Monterrey Park, treating the tenant side with contempt, Democrats demonstrated that future legislative action is pointless.

Dean Preston, Director of the statewide group Tenants Together, set forth Chau’s approach to the legislation (AB 1506) on Facebook:

Housing advocates were dejected last Thursday when a bill to give cities and counties more power to enact rent control died by one vote in committee. Meanwhile, the Sacramento City Council heard that its own housing crisis is affecting the disabled on a level local nonprofits can’t keep up with.