RUN News for September 2019 - 2019, The Year of Tenant Protections
- What's Going On With Our Bills?
- Regional Convenings
- Let's Thank Our Supporters
- Ask the Governor To Support SB
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2019, The Year of Tenant Protections This has been a great legislative season for tenants. We have been mobilizing all year to ensure the success of important legislation that moves us in the right direction toward protecting tenant rights. Both SB 329, a RUN-supported bill from Senator Holly Mitchell, and AB 1482, authored by Assemblymember David Chiu, passed the Assembly and the Senate and have moved to the Governor’s desk. Now it’s up to the Governor Newsom to sign them. SB 329 would ban discrimination against tenants who depend on housing assistance vouchers like Section 8 to pay rent. We know that across the state, people can wait years for a federal voucher, then watch landlords reject those vouchers for no reason except prejudice against low-income people. This bill would make that kind of discrimination illegal. AB 1482 will cap rent increases in most apartments to five percent plus inflation - which is about 8 percent - and require landlords to have “just cause” when they evict someone statewide. That means rent gouging, or huge increases out of the blue, will be illegal. Both bills were hard fights, and many legislators in RUN’s regions voted yes despite opposition from realtors. Check to see if your legislator voted for 329 and 1482. Governor Newsom has until October 13 to sign or veto both bills, but we expect that he will! | |
Let’s Acknowledge Our Supporters It took the work and support of dozens of stakeholders to get SB 329 passed. We would like to acknowledge the representatives who stood with us and voted in favor of the bill. Please take the time to reach out to your representatives who voted yes and thank them for standing with tenants and for supporting just legislation. You can send them an email, call their office, or tweet at them, whichever works best for you. Building relationships with elected officials will only strengthen our network. | |
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Join Us at the RUN Convenings! Fall regionals are fast approaching, and we hope you can join us! At the fall regional convenings, we’ll brainstorm ideas for the 2020 legislative session through the “There Ought To Be A Law” process, build community, and boost our organizing and leadership skills. Regionals are a great way to engage with RUN and meet RUN leaders in your area. The dates are included below and an email with registration links and locations will be sent in the next few weeks. San Diego – September 24 Bay Area - October 23 San Joaquin Valley – October 26 Orange County – October 29 Sacramento – November 5 Inland Empire - TBD Los Angeles - TBD | |
Ask The Governor to Sign SB 5! SB 5 provides an ongoing, sustainable, and accountable source of funding for cities and counties to build affordable homes. Our state already contributes billions each year to help middle- and upper-income people buy larger homes. It’s time to make sure that lower-income Californians have a stable foundation for success. Governor Newsom can sign SB 5 into law and transform housing in California. It took decades to create our housing shortage, and it will take years of sustained building to end it. But SB 5’s innovative program will dedicate at least $1 billion annually to home production for low-income Californians, a big step in preventing homelessness. This is not a priority RUN bill, but it is the biggest chance this year to get more funding for affordable housing, and Housing California supported it! Take a moment to send a message to Governor Newsom today. Ask him to sign SB 5 and help Californians thrive in quality, affordable homes. Here’s how to submit your comment on the governor’s portal: - Select Have Comment.
- Enter your first name, last name, and email address.
- Select SB00005\Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Program. (You’ll have to scroll way down in the dropdown menu.)
- Click Continue.
- Click on Pro, and write your message.
- Click Send Message.
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