SACRAMENTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–California State Sen. Scott Wiener’s real estate deregulation bill, SB
50, is facing mounting opposition from elected officials in nearly three
dozen cities. On May 7, the Long
Beach City Council voted unanimously to oppose Wiener’s troubling
legislation. With that vote, the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors, the Los Angeles City Council, the Long Beach
City Council, and 32 other city governments are sending a strong
message to Gov. Gavin Newsom and members of the California State Senate
and Assembly to stop SB 50.
“Elected officials throughout California understand the negative,
street-level impacts that SB 50 will cause in our cities,” says Housing
Is A Human Right Director René Christian Moya. “Gov. Newsom and
state legislators must listen to them — and stop SB 50 right now.”
To date, according to the League of California Cities, 35
municipalities oppose SB 50: Burlingame, Beverly Hills, Brentwood,
Chino Hills, Cupertino, Diamond Bar, Downey, Fremont, Glendale,
Glendora, Hermosa Beach, La Mirada, Lafayette, Laguna Niguel, Lakewood,
Long Beach, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Mountain View, Novato,
Paramount, Pasadena, Pinole, Palo Alto, Rancho Cucamonga, Rancho Palos
Verdes, Redondo Beach, Santa Clarita, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solana
Beach, Sunnyvale, Vista, West Covina, and West Hollywood.
In addition, the Central Valley Division of League of California
Cities, Los Angeles County Division of League of California Cities,
and the South Bay Cities Council of Governments also oppose SB 50.
Housing justice activists say SB
50 is a trickle-down housing bill that will fuel gentrification and
displacement in middle- and working-class neighborhoods, but will
make billions in revenue for Wiener’s political patrons in the real
estate industry. Wiener
has long relied on campaign contributions from Big Real Estate to get
elected and stay in power. For his 2016 and 2020 state senate
campaigns, he’s hauled in more than $725,000 from developers, landlords,
real estate attorneys, architects, and others.
Shockingly, as Mission Economic Development Agency Director of Policy
and Advocacy Norma Garcia pointed out at a recent hearing held by State
Senate Governance and Finance Committee, SB 50 has NOT been studied by
the state for its impacts on middle- and working-class communities. For
such sweeping legislation, State Sen. Scott Wiener has not done due
diligence.
Housing
Is A Human Right, the housing advocacy division of AIDS Healthcare
Foundation, promotes the 3 Ps to urgently address California’s
housing affordability crisis: protect tenants; preserve communities; and
produce new, truly affordable housing. SB 50, which advances a
trickle-down housing agenda, does none of those things in a substantive,
long-term way.
Instead, State Sen. Scott Wiener’s SB 50 overwhelmingly pushes new
luxury housing for an ongoing housing affordability crisis. It makes no
sense, other than giving a lucrative handout to Wiener’s campaign
contributors in the real estate industry. Housing Is A Human Right
continues to strongly oppose Wiener’s bill.
Earlier this year HHR also issued a special report titled ‘Selling Out
California: Scott Wiener’s Money Ties to Big Real Estate.’ To view that
report, click here.
About
Housing
Is A Human Right, based in Los Angeles, is the housing advocacy
division of AIDS Healthcare Foundation—the world’s largest HIV/AIDS
medical-care organization, serving more than one million people in 43
countries. Throughout the U.S., AHF patients have been negatively
impacted by rising housing costs and gentrification, which threaten
their health. HHR advocates for stronger tenants protections, fights
gentrification, and advances progressive housing policies.
Contacts
MEDIA CONTACTS:
René Moya, Housing is a Human Right, (323)
620-7835 cell
[email protected]
Ged Kenslea, AHF Dir. of Communications, (323) 791-5526 cell
[email protected]
