Why did Prop 33 lose in California? Here are three reasons, although there could be more:
1) Out of state billionaire real estate special interests, combined with in-state millionaire Landlord orgs, spent over $121,000,000 on telling scary falsehoods to Californians. Like, rent control will cause rents to go up, and affordable housing will disappear. They just needed to cause enough confusion about the meaning of Prop 33 to get the voters – even tenants! – to vote no.
2) As I explain in a vid on YouTube,* the California Legislative Analyst presented a biased and negative summary of Prop 33 in the Voter Guide. That was sent out to 22M Californians. For many voters, it was the one and only thing they would read about Prop 33. The law requires the Legislative Analyst to suggest the economic impact of a prop for both state and local gov – but only a negative view was given, and only for the state gov – “tens of millions” would be lost in tax revenues, it said. But renters with regulated affordable rents would have more money to spend; hence, a boon to local economies and local govs (see my vid). Although misleading, such a negative report likely resulted 100s 0f 1000s of "no" votes. (I warned Weinstein about this in time to change it, but to no avail.)
3) The organization behind the pro-Prop 33 took a Republican orientation to making their case. They took the rich person’s view of pitying the poor homeless. But to really stimulate renters and Progressive Californians, they should have rallied renters to Fight for their Rights to Affordable Rents. The spokespersons they sent out to the media were nice people, well informed, but not a Fighter among them. The Landlord rep, a guy named Click, could misrepresent Prop 33, and BS the audience with red herrings, and never be confronted by the pro-Prop 33 person.^ Those one minute TV “debates” are on YouTube.
So, Landlords win again. The domination and exploitation
that began under Feudalism will continue.
The Political Science Interpretivist
@InterpretivePo1
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJUZeAbSB28
^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVP2nqEV-ao&t=53s
Press release says the following, but no details, “Governor Newsom is the main reason that rent control was killed in California," said AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein. "All the polling showed Yes on 33 ahead prior to his becoming the face of the no campaign. Big Real Estate gave him millions over the years, and they called in their chits." https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241106313190/en/Yes-on-33-Fight-for-Justice-for-Renters-Will-Continue
ReplyDeleteActually, Newsom's popularity hovered around 50% at the time. So his influence probably wasn't all that significant.
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