Rent Control Campaign Launches in California’s Hard-Hit Central Valley

PRESS CONF., Saturday, August 19, 12:30 p.m., Sequoia Room, Visalia Comfort Suites - Convention Ctr.

169,702 signatures from voters in 19 counties that form the Central Valley helped get statewide rent control initiative on November 2024 ballot

VISALIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A broad coalition of California renters, housing advocates, elected officials, and social justice organizations will host a press conference in Visalia, CA on Saturday, August 19^th in support of the ‘Justice for Renters Act,’ a statewide ballot initiative that would remove California’s rent control ban and give local communities the right to stabilize rents and make apartments more affordable for low-income and middle-income renters. This is the first Justice for Renters event in the Central Valley, which, according to NBC News, has seen some of the steepest rent increases since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 with rents up 39.4% in Bakersfield, 38.4% in Visalia, 38% in Fresno, 35.3% in Merced, and 29.6% in Redding.

WHAT:	‘Justice for Renters Act’ Press Conference
WHEN:	Saturday, August 19 at 12:30 p.m.
WHERE:	Comfort Suites Visalia – Convention Center, The Sequoia Room
	210 E. Acequia Ave, Visalia, CA 92391 (directly across from the Convention Center)
WHO:	Hon. Santos Garcia, Mayor, City of Madera
	Hon. Verónica Vázquez, Councilmember, City of Delano
	Art Rodriguez, Organizing Director, Central Valley Empowerment Alliance & Vice Chair of Renters Council
	Carolyn Fowler, California Democratic Party Controller
	Mari Ruiz Perez, Chair, California Renters’ Council
	Christine Pelosi, Tenant & DNC Member
	Aide Hernandez, Tenant, and DACA farmworker who dropped out of college to help parents pay rent
	Susie Shannon, Policy Director, Housing Is A Human Right (HHR) (press conf. emcee)

The Justice for Renters ballot campaign kicked off May 25^th with a press conference on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall. Advocates needed to collect at least 546,651 valid California voter signatures to qualify the measure. They collected more than 810,000 in total.