California Courts Affirm Prop 33 Undermines State Housing & Renter Protections

Court Rejects AHF challenge and affirms statement “Prop 33 is a Trojan Horse that Overturns State Housing Law”

Court separately affirmed state’s finding that some renters would see rent increases under Prop 33

Court also confirmed Prop 33 “weakens renter protections”

Judge to opposition during oral arguments: “Do you want to be in fantasy land or reality?” 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 13, 2024
Contact: Nathan Click, nathan@click-comms.com

CALIFORNIA– The No on Prop 33 campaign issued the following statement after two state courts affirmed how Prop 33 will have harmful effects on the state’s renter protections and undermine state housing laws. 

“California is facing a severe housing and homelessness crisis, and Prop 33 would make that crisis worse,” said Nathan Click, spokesman for the No on 33 campaign. “We are glad to see two courts have affirmed how Prop 33 would harm state’s existing renter protections and undermine the laws state leaders have passed to ensure housing gets built. Voters should be warned — this Prop 33 is a Trojan Horse that would make our housing crisis worse.”

After the opposition, AHF, challenged to No on Prop 33 ballot argument, a court validated language in the California voter guide that Prop 33:

-“Weakens renter protections”

-“Undermines the strongest statewide rent control law in the nation signed by Governor Newsom”

The court also affirmed the statement, “Prop 33 is a Trojan Horse that overturns state housing laws,” as well as the statement that Prop 33 “has no protections for renters.”

A court also separately rejected an AHF challenge of a state finding that some renters would see their rent increase under Prop 33, with the judge asking incredulously during oral arguments, “Do you want to be in fantasy land or reality?” after hearing AHF’s claim.

In its final ruling, the Court rebuked AHF noting, the “petitioner has not met his burden to show by clear and convincing evidence that the text is false or misleading.  In fact, based on the evidence before it, the Court finds it is more likely than not that the statement of the Legislative Analyst is in fact correct.” 

Just this week, a bipartisan coalition of 23 Mayors across California announced their opposition and spoke out against Proposition 33, saying the anti-housing initiative will undermine state housing laws while making it harder for California to build the affordable housing we need to address the state’s housing crisis. They join a growing bipartisan coalition of affordable housing advocates, state and local leaders, first responders, and labor groups opposing the initiative. 

Academics at UC Berkeley, Stanford, and researchers across the country have found that rent control policies create worse outcomes for housing production and increase homelessness. Last week, Vox wrote how rental restrictions like Prop 33 “have long been controversial among economists, most of whom argue that the policy hurts housing markets and ultimately limits supply, thus driving costs up further. A review of more than 200 empirical rent control studies released in March found a ‘wide range of adverse effects’ for communities with rent caps, and that landlords were more likely to allow rent-capped units to fall into disrepair.” 

Not only would Proposition 33 weaken California’s existing protections for tenants and homeowners, it would undermine California’s dozens of other state housing measures, which would make it harder to build in California.  While masquerading as a rent control measure, Proposition 33 would actually create new loopholes for local governments, allowing them to ignore these laws and block housing California desperately needs.