Tenants' Rights Bill Stalls In Sacramento

Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, January 16, 2026

• Renters are worried after a major tenants’ rights bill died this week in Sacramento. It would have capped annual rent increases and expanded protections to more households. With affordability top of mind, some tenants are concerned about their own housing security now that relief is nowhere in sight. 
• The Trump administration is not entitled to sensitive information on California’s 23 million voters. That’s according to a federal court ruling out of Southern California on Thursday.
• In a 4-3 vote, the Santa Barbara City Council approved two tenant protection ordinances this week  — a temporary rent freeze and changes to its eviction protections.

Tenants ‘Crushed’ After California Renter Protections Bill Stalls In The Legislature

After taking blows from landlord groups and the building trades, a statewide bill that aimed to expand renter protections and make them permanent is likely dead this legislative season.

AB 1157, dubbed the “Affordable Rent Act,” would have expanded the 2019 Tenant Protection Act to more renters and lowered the amount rent can increase each year. It would have also made those changes permanent, removing a 2030 sunset date.

Tuesday marked the bill’s first hearing of the year in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, where tenants and advocates pleaded with committee members to advance the bill. But, it faced stiff opposition from rental property and building trade groups, who said it would make housing construction more expensive and could push smaller landlords out of the market. The bill failed to get enough votes, and without any additional hearings scheduled, AB 1157 will likely die there. “I’m just really, really crushed because they talk about how they don’t want to hurt the property owners, they don’t want to have them take their properties off the market,” said Chula Vista renter Tammy Alvarado, who took a 13-hour bus ride to testify in support of the bill.

Now, as the 2019 Tenant Protection Act moves closer towards its expiration date, Alvarado and other tenants are worried about what it means for their own housing security. She splits the monthly payment with her husband and two children for a two-bedroom, single-family home. In November, she said her rent jumped from $2,780 to $3,030 a month — a nearly 9% increase. She also had to pay more toward her security deposit. To make up the cost, she said she would have to miss payments for her gas and electricity bills. “Devastated,” she said. “Next time I come up here [to Sacramento], I will probably be homeless.”

Federal Government Has No Right To California Voters’ Sensitive Data, Judge Rules

A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Trump administration is not entitled to personal information belonging to California’s 23 million voters. Judge David O. Carter made the ruling.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued California, along with 22 other states and Washington, D.C., for access to their full, unredacted voter files. That includes driver’s license, social security numbers and other sensitive data. DOJ officials said they needed the data to assess whether states were properly maintaining their voter rolls and ensuring “only American citizens are voting, only one time,” as Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a social media post in December.

California refused, citing state and federal privacy law. Only a handful of states have complied with the government’s request for their full voter files, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, which has been tracking the issue nationwide.

In Judge Carter’s ruling, he wrote that amassing sensitive information at the federal level would have a chilling effect on voter registration, which would lead to decreased turnout “as voters fear that their information is being used for some inappropriate or unlawful purpose.” He added, “This risk threatens the right to vote which is the cornerstone of American democracy.”

Santa Barbara Approves Temporary Rent Freeze

This week, the Santa Barbara City Council approved two measures aimed to protect tenants in the city.

In a 4-3 vote, the council approved a temporary rent freeze, as city officials work toward a permanent rent stabilization program.  According to Assistant City Attorney Dan Hentschke, under the temporary rent increase moratorium, rents would be locked at their mid-December 2025 levels and remain in place until a permanent rent stabilization ordinance is adopted.

The rent freeze will have certain restrictions. It will not apply to units built in the past 30 years, single-family dwelling units and most condos and institutional or government housing. The council also added requirements for lawful evictions in the city.