There are few things more important than having a roof over our heads. But as we know, California is in the grips of an affordable housing crisis like this state has never seen, with more and more working families, fixed-income seniors, and young people – our very own neighbors and friends – being priced out of our cities because they can’t afford the skyrocketing rents. There’s a reason for this:

Most cities don’t have rent control. And even the ones that do are subject to a 1995 law, the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which puts sharp restrictions on the kinds of housing units subject to rent control – including, preposterously, any structure built after February 1995 or after the city’s rent control ordinance went into effect. For San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles this means any building constructed in the last four decades is exempt!

Something’s got to give, and fast. California’s working people deserve the right to rent affordable housing. That is why I fully support the November ballot measure to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Act and restore rent control to ALL units in our rent-controlled cities.

Please sign this pledge to repeal Costa-Hawkins and make rent affordable to all!

As the two-term Mayor of Richmond, I led our City Council and a coalition of housing advocates in 2015 to establish rent control – making Richmond the first California city in 30 years to do so. I am so proud of our achievement, and as California Lt. Governor and chair of the Commission for Economic Development, one of my top priorities will be to get more affordable housing built throughout the state.

In the meantime, Santa Ana in Orange County has become the latest city campaigning to establish rent control to keep housing affordable for its renters and working families. It joins a growing list of cities including Long Beach, Glendale, Inglewood and Pasadena where citizen groups are pushing similar referendums on rent control. We did it in Richmond and you can do it in your cities, too!

I am also pleased to endorse the new San Francisco Community Housing Act, a bill that funds municipal housing by taxing square footage by floor, with an exemption for lower-income homeowners. That means the biggest buildings in SF, like the new Salesforce tower, will pay for housing stabilization, new building construction, publicly-owned childcare facilities and bus transit improvements. This measure proposed by San Francisco Berniecrats shows the way that cities can truly lead on affordable housing.

A powerful renters movement composed of workers and students, families and retirees, neighbors and friends, is taking hold across our state. I am the only candidate for Lt. Governor who stands 100% united with renters demanding affordable housing for all.