This week, the California secretary of state announced that supporters of a measure that would have gathered enough signatures to put it on the November 2024 ballot.
Sound familiar? You may have voted on something like this before.
- Voters didn鈥檛 bite in by 19 points.
- In 2020, .
At a virtual press conference on Thursday, Michael Weinstein, the and the chief financial backer of all three campaigns to date, said the third time may be the charm 鈥� if only because the for so many Californians.
- Weinstein: 鈥淭he situation has gotten so extreme and dire and catastrophic鈥�. We can never give up, that鈥檚 the bottom line.鈥�
California鈥檚 relationship with rent control is complicated.
A nearly blocks local governments from setting rent caps on homes built after 1995,, or to any single-family homes. The law also lets landlords hike the rent as much as they like once a tenant moves out.
The proposed proposition 鈥� like its two unsuccessful forebears 鈥� would repeal that law, allowing local governments 鈥溾�� however they see fit.
A more recent state law put a of no more than 5% plus inflation with an absolute maximum of 10%. That ceiling is too high for the coalition of tenant organizers, labor groups and local Democratic politicians backing the ballot measure.
If 2018 and 2020 are anything to go by, they鈥檒l have a few obstacles to overcome in 2024:
- Voters: Though their share of the population has inched up over the last decade, of Californians 鈥� and .
- Confusion: In the past, some voters seem to have been .
- Money: The last two go-rounds, landlords and business groups outspent supporters by more than two-to-one.
And rent control鈥檚 foes are ready to open their wallets again.
- Mike Nemeth, a spokesperson for the California Apartment Association: 鈥淚n recent years, we joined a broad coalition of pro-housing groups in soundly defeating similar measures鈥e will prepare to fight this latest proposition.鈥�
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