{"id":2951,"date":"2020-05-06T11:00:32","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T18:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=2951"},"modified":"2020-05-06T17:44:51","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T00:44:51","slug":"california-democrats-using-covid-19-crisis-to-push-for-permanent-rent-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=2951","title":{"rendered":"California Democrats Using COVID-19 Crisis to Push for Permanent Rent Control"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Michael Palomba<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Senator Pat Bates recently issued an announcement regarding a rent-reduction bill, AB 828, that has made its way to the State Senate. She calls it “a vast abuse of power.”<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen several far-left legislators across the nation calling for rent control. Generally, not too many people take the idea seriously, so it looks like those who want to implement it will do so by any means.<\/span><\/p>\n

“AB 828\u2019s author first introduced the bill in February 2019 to address human trafficking. The State Assembly unanimously approved it in April 2019, where the bill then sat dormant in the State Senate until this month, when the author gutted and amended it to <\/span>unconstitutionally<\/span><\/i> force a 25 percent reduction in rents and make it even more difficult for property owners to manage their properties,” said Bates.<\/span><\/p>\n

How a bill focused on human trafficking managed to become one about statewide rent control is… interesting. Nonetheless, this bill, if passed, would be a blatant overstep by the government and would inevitably have unintended consequences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Senator Patricia Bates opposes AB 828 because of the negative consequences it would create in the housing market. “I share the author\u2019s desire to help renters genuinely affected by COVID-19, but AB 828 is not the answer,” she explained. “The bill would sanction a de facto government taking of private property which would ultimately reduce the amount of housing available in California in the long run.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, California already has a plethora of tenant protection programs in place as a result of COVID-19, including:<\/span><\/p>\n