Local governments’ opposition to Scott Wiener’s SB50 is already well known. But the initiative is now facing more pushback from another group: low-income residents and their allies.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), who is running for the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, is against the bill. And in a letter Wednesday, two influential groups — the Alliance for Community Transit Los Angeles and the Western Center on Law and Poverty — announced their opposition. The bill “fails to address our most serious concerns and will exacerbate the housing challenges experienced by low-income people, people of color and other vulnerable people, the very populations being hit hardest by California’s affordability crisis,” they said.
In some ways, the writing was on the wall. Protests by anti-gentrification activists overshadowed the Oakland press conference where Wiener announced the new version of SB50 earlier this month.
This could be a major snag for SB50 proponents. The bill must pass the Senate by Friday.
There is still plenty of positive news, however. The changes introduced by Wiener have succeeded in wooing some local governments. The city councils of Milpitas and Albany have endorsed the bill and San Mateo withdrew its prior opposition. On Monday, the Rules Committee moved the bill to the Senate floor, clearing it for a vote before the deadline.