One of the most contentious and costly ballot measures for the November general election is Proposition 33, which would give the green light to cities and counties to control rents on any type of housing, including apartments, condos and single-family homes.
Ads on Prop 33 have dominated airwaves and online spaces with both supporters and opponents launching nasty attacks and accusations about each other.
What Prop 33 would do
Prop 33 seeks to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995, which currently allows cities and counties to impose rent control only on units built before 1995.
Even for units built before 1995, if a tenant leaves, the landlord can raise the rent to market levels.
Also under current law, local governments cannot limit initial residential rental rates for new tenants or rent increases for existing tenants in certain residential properties.
If Prop 33 passed, local governments would be allowed to impose rental control on any apartment building regardless of when it was built.
What supports Prop 33
Supporters of Prop 33, including the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Michael Weinstein, say giving local governments options to expand rental control would help stabilize the “skyrocketing” rents across the state, especially in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Proponents also argue Prop 33 would help ease the homelessness crisis by “preserving rent-controlled units” for those in need of housing, such as seniors on a fixed income.
Supporters of Prop 33 also include:
- Los Angeles County
- San Francisco County
- City of Bell Gardens
- City of Santa Monica
- City of West Hollywood
- California Democratic Party
- Los Angeles County Democratic Party
- Marin County Democratic Party
- California Nurses Association
- United Teachers Los Angeles
Who opposes Prop 33
Opponents of Prop 33 point out the proposal would lead to a decline in rental property values across the state, which means property owners will pay less on property taxes, thus leading to the reduction of property tax revenues for cities, counties, special districts and schools.
Local government could lose tens of millions of dollars each year from the property taxes, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Critics also say Prop 33 would stop the construction of new housing, including affordable housing. That also means building affordable housing units like ADUs would become harder under Prop 33, according to opponents.
Opponents of Prop 33 also include:
- California Apartment Association
- California Association of Realtors
- California Black Chamber of Commerce
- California Building Industry Association
- California Chamber of Commerce
- California Council of Carpenters
- California Council for Affordable Housing
- California Small Business Association
- Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
- Los Angeles County Business Federation
Ugly finger-pointing
The fight over Prop 33 has become even more divisive as the “Yes on 33” campaign began running ads, accusing the backers or the “No” campaign to be tied to the MAGA movement, calling corporate property companies that are part of the California Apartment Association, “greedy.”
Meanwhile the “No on 33” campaign is targeting Michael Weinstein, the polarizing figure and head of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, accusing him of accumulating low-income housing properties and being a “slumlord.”
Those against Prop 33 also point out that previous ballot measures that were similar to the proposal had failed to get California voters’ approval, but proponents say now is the time to pass Prop 33 with the housing crisis in the state has reached a fever pitch.