"SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — The rent, many California lawmakers agree, is too damn high.
The phrase appeared often during a Thursday hearing as Assembly members examined a bill that would further cap allowable rent increases, include single-family homes in tenant protections and remove an existing sunset to the Tenant Protection Act of 2019.
Over 100 people favoring and opposing the bill spoke during the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, which passed Assembly Bill 1157. The legislation now proceeds to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Supporters cheered as they watched the committee move the bill to its next stop along the legislative process.
“It is something that we need to address,” said Assemblymember Matt Haney, a San Francisco Democrat and committee chair, of the state’s housing crisis.
The bill’s author — Assemblymember Ash Kalra, a San Jose Democrat — said people continue to struggle with rent, despite the 2019 law. That law imposed an annual limit on rent increases to 5% plus the percentage change in the cost of living, or not greater than 10%, whichever is lower. Additionally, landlords must have a justifiable reason for terminating a tenancy after a year.
Single-family home rentals currently are exempt from existing law, which sunsets Jan. 1, 2030."