"A few dozen protesters brought a charged jolt to a morning panel at the DTECH energy conference in San Diego yesterday, climbing onto the stage and chasing PG&E's vice president for wildfire mitigation away from the podium. Activists packed the front of the room with blue signs and loud chants, forcing panelists to step down while the moderator urged the audience to clear out. The disruption halted a session billed as a discussion of technologies for locating and identifying wildfires."

"A few dozen protesters disrupted the energy industry conference DTECH in San Diego on Tuesday, interrupting a morning panel and prompting its speakers — including a PG&E executive — to flee the stage.

The protesters called on PG&E to cancel its contract with the tech company Palantir, a data and artificial intelligence outfit that has become the focus of ire over the past year due to its extensive work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The activist group Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action carried out the protest; ACCE campaign director Eric Lerner told SFGATE that they attempted to give a demands letter to Andrew Abranches, PG&E’s vice president of wildfire mitigation, but he left the room without taking it."

California’s housing crisis hit another low this week, thanks to a gutless legislature that turned its back on the very people it claims to serve. Assembly Member Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, put forward AB 1157—a bill that sought to expand rent control in California. The intent of this bill represented a lifeline for renters and a check on runaway greed. It didn’t even make it out of committee in the Assembly.

The bill died on Tuesday, killed not by open opposition, but by five Democrats who couldn’t even muster the decency to vote. They are Assembly members: Rebecca Bauer Kahan, D-Orinda, Blanca Pacheco, D-Downey, Diane Papan, D-San Mateo, Catherine Stefani, D-San Francisco and Rick Chavez Zbur, D-Los Angeles.

California lawmakers love to posture about affordability, but they’re paralyzed by fear—afraid to anger voters, and terrified of crossing their corporate donors. The people’s needs don’t even make the shortlist when special interests are in the room.

"They rallied outside the state Capitol Monday yelling “Lower the rent!” They occupied the office of Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas for an hour later in the day, telling stories of rising prices. And more supporters of a bill that would strengthen and expand a state rental protection law filed into the Capitol Tuesday morning for a hearing that could determine the fate of the measure. But the pressure campaign was not enough to pass Assembly Bill 1157. The legislation would restrict the ability of landlords to raise rents by at most 5% annually every year, cutting in half the state’s current limit.

“I’m living with housing insecurity,” said a woman who identified herself as Zapatista Zapala, shortly after the Assembly Judiciary Committee failed to pass the measure. Tears streamed down her face as she described how the rent for her one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles was going to rise another 10% to $2,650. She carpooled up to Sacramento to be at the Capitol for the hearing." 

"After taking blows from landlord groups and the building trades, a statewide bill that aimed to expand renter protections and make them permanent is likely dead this legislative season.

AB 1157, dubbed the “Affordable Rent Act,” would have expanded the 2019 Tenant Protection Act to more renters and lowered the amount rent can increase each year. It would have also made those changes permanent, removing a 2030 sunset date.

Tuesday marked the bill’s first hearing of the year in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, where tenants and advocates pleaded with committee members to advance the bill.

But, it faced stiff opposition from rental property and building trade groups, who said it would make housing construction more expensive and could push smaller landlords out of the market.

The bill failed to get enough votes, and without any additional hearings scheduled, AB 1157 will likely die there.

“I’m just really, really crushed because they talk about how they don’t want to hurt the property owners, they don’t want to have them take their properties off the market,” said Chula Vista renter Tammy Alvarado, who took a 13-hour bus ride to testify in support of the bill."

"A contentious housing bill that would have capped rent increases to 5% a year died in the Assembly on Tuesday, a decision greeted with boos and cries of disapproval from spectators packed inside the committee chamber.

Assembly Bill 1157 would have lowered California’s limit on rent increases from 10% to 5% annually and removed a clause that allows the cap to expire in 2030. It also would have extended tenant protections to single-family homes — though the bill’s author, Assemblyman Ash Kalra (D-San José), offered to nix that provision.

“Millions of Californians are still struggling with the high cost of rent,” Kalra said. “We must do something to address the fact that the current law is not enough for many renters.”"

"The race to win the 2026 elections to save our country from all-out authoritarianism has begun. Last month’s election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s next mayor—running on a bold platform of freezing rents for 2.4 million rent-stabilized tenants—shows exactly how Democrats can win. California Democratic leadership, from Assembly leader Robert Rivas to Governor Gavin Newsom, have pledged to address Californian’s kitchen table economics. But they continue to ignore one of the most powerful tools available to provide immediate relief to millions now—rent caps.

The disconnect is staggering. A new report shows California tied with Louisiana for the highest poverty rate in the country, driven by the crushing cost of housing. And yet many of our elected officials remain paralyzed by the myth that capping rents is politically toxic. It’s time to set the record straight: rent caps aren’t just good policy, it’s a winning issue that Democrats can lead on to rebuild trust with working families in 2026."