Politico California
April 24, 2025
The Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development told Democratic Assemblymember Ash Kalra that his bill — which would lower yearly rent increases to a maximum of 5 percent — had better look different if it ever reaches the governor’s desk.
Members were hesitant to hand over a “yes” vote to the bill, citing philosophical disagreements about how to deal with rising rent prices.
Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a Bay Area Democrat who helped negotiate the 2019 Tenant Protection Act, said capping rent increases might disincentivize the construction of new homes in California.
“If we are going to be passing a seismic shift on housing policy, we need all the stakeholders to be at the table,” she said, stressing the sensitivity of the issue. But Wicks and other Democratic members, including committee Chair Matt Haney and Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, agreed to advance the bill out of committee to give Kalra time to negotiate amendments to the proposal.
“I think we can do it, but it’s hard,” said Quirk-Silva.
But for some, even the promise of amendments wasn’t enough.
“We have a shortage of housing, and capping rent doesn’t fix that,” said Democratic Assemblymember Lori Wilson of Solano County, who voted against it along with fellow Democrat Anamarie Ávila Farías and the panel’s three Republicans.
After a nearly two-hour discussion, featuring intense debate from both sides, the committee approved the bill 7-5.