California Assembly Slams Door on Increasing Tenants’ Rights
Two bills to provide Just Cause and added Ellis Act eviction protections went down to defeat recently with many Democrats joining with all the Republicans in the state Assembly.
Oakland).
The bill would have prohibited arbitrary “no-cause” evictions of California tenants was voted down by a 30 (all Republicans and 10 Democrats) to 15 (all Democrats) vote with 33 Assembly Members not voting (all Democrats), which is essentially a ‘no’ vote on May 31.
Particularly disturbing were the Democrats who joined with all the Republicans, in actually voting NO on AB 2925. They were Sydney Kamlager-Dove (newly elected), Anna Caballero, Ken Cooley, Jim Cooper, Adam Gray, Marc Levine, Evan Low, Jose Medina. Bill Quick and Rudy Salas.
YES: Bloom (D), Bonta (D), Chau (D), Chiu (D), Chu (D), Friedman (D), Gipson (D), Gonzalez Fletcher (D), Holden (D), Jones-Sawyer (D), Kalra (D), Mullin (D), Mark Stone (D), Thurmond (D), Ting (D), Rendon (D)
NOES: Acosta (R), Travis Allen (R), Baker (R), Bigelow (R), Brough (R), Caballero (D), Chávez (R), Chen (R), Choi (R), Cooley (D), Cooper (D), Cunningham (R), Dahle (R), Flora (R), Fong (R), Gallagher (R), Gray (D), Grayson (D), Harper (R), Kamlager-Dove (D), Kiley (R), Lackey (R), Levine (D), Low (D), Maienschein (R), Mathis (R), Mayes (R), Medina (D), Melendez (R), Obernolte (R), Patterson (R), Quirk (D), Salas (D), Steinorth (R), Voepel (R), Waldron (R)
NOT VOTING: Aguiar-Curry (D), Arambula (D), Berman (D), Burke (D), Calderon (D), Carrillo (D), Cervantes (D), Daly (D), Eggman (D), Frazier (D), Cristina Garcia (D), Eduardo Garcia (D), Gloria (D), Irwin (D), Limón (D), McCarty (D), Muratsuchi (D), Nazarian (D), O’Donnell (D), Quirk-Silva (D), Reyes (D), Rodriguez (D), Rubio (D), Santiago (D), Weber (D), Wood (D)
Also on May 31, AB 2364, introduced by Assembly Member Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) was voted down by the state Assembly by a 25 (all Democrats) to 36 (9 Democrats) vote with 17 (all Democrats) not voting, essentially a NO vote. The LA area Democratic member not voting: Burke (D), Caballero (D), Cervantes (D), Cristina Garcia (D), Gipson (D), Kamlager-Dove (D), Muratsuchi (D), Quirk-Silva (D), Santiago (D).
AB 2364 would have closed loopholes in the Ellis Act that have allowed some landlords to displace tenants and raise the price of rent control units. Though misuse of the Ellis Act has existed for decades, the current housing crisis has exacerbated the problem.
AB 2364 would have clarified the Ellis Act by setting one withdrawal date for a property,
by requiring the entire property to be deemed back on the market if one unit is returned, and by increasing the length of time for which a property owner can be penalized for re-entering the rental market. The measure also eliminates the cap on punitive damages and clarifies that these changes are only prospective. It would have provided all tenants a 1-year notice instead of limiting it to only seniors and disabled tenants.
YES: Bloom (D), Bonta (D), Calderon (D), Carrillo (D), Chau (D), Chiu (D), Chu (D), Eggman (D), Friedman (D), Gloria (D), Gonzalez Fletcher (D), Holden (D), Jones-Sawyer (D), Kalra (D), Limón (D), Low (D), McCarty (D), Mullin (D), Nazarian (D), Reyes (D), Mark Stone (D), Thurmond (D), Ting (D), Wood (D), Rendon (D)
NOES: Acosta (R), Travis Allen (R), Baker (R), Bigelow (R), Brough (R), Chávez (R), Chen (R), Choi (R), Cooley (D), Cooper (D), Cunningham (R), Dahle (R), Daly (D), Flora (R), Fong (R), Frazier (D), Gallagher (R), Gray (D), Grayson (D), Harper (R), Irwin (D), Kiley (R), Lackey (R), Levine (D), Maienschein (R), Mathis (R), Mayes (R), Melendez (R), O’Donnell (D), Obernolte (R), Patterson (R), Quirk (D), Salas (D), Steinorth (R), Voepel (R), Waldron (R)
NOT VOTING: Aguiar-Curry (D), Arambula (D), Berman (D), Burke (D), Caballero (D), Cervantes (D), Cristina Garcia (D), Eduardo Garcia (D), Gipson (D), Kamlager-Dove (D), Medina (D), Muratsuchi (D), Quirk-Silva (D), Rodriguez (D), Rubio (D), Santiago (D), Weber (D)
Organizing Times 