Significant opposition is already mounting against Michael Weinstein’s latest radical rent control measure, qualified for November’s statewide ballot.
The State Building and Construction Trades Council of California announced its opposition to Weinstein’s measure, which would repeal significant portions of the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act and welcome back the extreme forms of rent control that proliferated in California in the 1970s.
Weinstein, an anti-housing crusader, has pushed this measure despite the overwhelming defeat of his 2018 radical rent control initiative, Proposition 10. It also follows the recent passage of Assembly Bill 1482, the nation’s strongest statewide tenant protection law. Since last month, this measure has capped rent increases for most of California’s multifamily housing stock.
The State Building and Construction Trades Council of California contends that Weinstein’s initiative will undermine the newly enacted Tenant Protection Act of 2019.
“Californians are suffering from record levels of income inequality combined with skyrocketing rents,” said Cesar Diaz, legislative and political director for the Building and Construction Trades Council. “This initiative, disguised as a solution to these problems, will interfere with historic renter protections and block the path towards future investment in the construction of affordable housing units for the working class.”
Diaz’s comments came in a news release issued by Californians for Responsible Housing, which is sponsored by the California Apartment Association.
Specifically, Weinstein’s initiative would authorize cities and counties to impose rent controls at any level they choose – even below the rate of inflation — on buildings after they turn 15 years old. Weinstein’s measure would also once again allow vacancy controls, preventing units from returning to market rates between tenancies.
Tom Bannon, chief executive officer for CAA, said Weinstein’s latest measure is a warmed-over version of Proposition 10, which voters adamantly rejected.
“This is Prop 10 2.0 and yet another attempt by Weinstein to keep new homes out of California,” Bannon said. “Weinstein knows that if radical rent control comes back to California, multifamily construction will come to a screeching halt. And that’s what he wants. He’s abusing the statewide initiative process to impose extreme forms of rent control and satisfy his extreme form of NIMBYism.”
