Around 44% of Californians are renters. But as far as state Assemblymember Alex Lee can tell, just 5% of the California Assembly – four of its 80 members – don’t own a home.

In Lee’s view, that means the state’s 17 million renters aren’t adequately represented in Sacramento. So earlier this year, he and his three fellow renters in the Assembly formed a new “renters’ caucus” to advocate for tenant-focused policies. Another goal: pushing back on what they see as the outsized influence of landlord and real estate groups in state politics.

Along with Lee, 27, who represents parts of San Jose as the youngest member of the state Legislature, the caucus so far includes fellow Democrats Matt Haney of San Francisco, Tasha Boerner Horvath of Encinitas, and Isaac Bryan of Los Angeles.

In California, half of all renters spend more than a third of their income on housing, classifying them as “rent-burdened” by federal standards. Many live in cramped or unsafe conditions. And some are still struggling to recover from the economic fallout of the pandemic after most emergency eviction protections expired and rental aid programs closed to new applications.

In an interview, Lee outlined how he hopes the caucus can help vulnerable tenants. That includes working to create a statewide registry of rental properties; reforming the Ellis Act, which allows landlords of rent-controlled buildings to carry out no-fault evictions when leaving the rental market; and repealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which prevents cities from applying rent control to single-family homes and newer apartment buildings, and guarantees landlords can charge market-rate rents to new tenants.

Critics of rent control ordinances argue they disproportionately hurt small landlords and create a disincentive for new development. They also cite research showing that capping rents can decrease overall housing affordability by prompting property owners to stop renting their units.

Even so, Lee – who rents an apartment in Sacramento but lives at home with his mom in San Jose to save money – made clear he believes expanding rent control and enacting new tenant protections are key to keeping low- and middle-income Californians safe in their homes.

Q: What kinds of policies will the renters’ caucus push for?

A: On policy issues, we would like to reform the Ellis Act with my bill, Assembly Bill 2050. But we also want to abolish Costa-Hawkins, which removes local control for any city that wants to have their own (rent control ordinance). And we’d also like to see a rental registry bill. We also want to work on empowering tenants’ voices and working with tenant organizations across the state to lift up their voices.

Q: Do you see the renters’ caucus as a way to balance the influence of well-funded landlord and real estate groups in the state Legislature?

A: It’s of course to highlight the disparity of power, and not just in the state Legislature but within the state of California as a whole. Frankly, those who make our housing decisions are often those who have much, much more economic security (and security as property owners) than most of the population.

Q: How does the caucus aim to gather enough support to repeal Costa-Hawkins and allow cities to adopt stricter rent control ordinances?

A: Escalating home prices and unaffordability is evident to all. And those who profit from that are the big real estate interests. And I’m not talking about grandpa and grandma (landlords). I’m talking about corporations. Costa-Hawkins needs to be repealed so there can be sensible local reforms.

That’s the important thing, to build that kind of power. That’s why we empower tenant-focused organizations, local equity groups – as well as highlighting and organizing among ourselves as renters because there is such a power gap.

Q: What would a state rental registry of landlords seek to accomplish?

A: I think the most important aspect is that it would help the enforcement of our laws. Right now, we don’t know who owns what, where, how, what duration – and we don’t know where the landlords are. And without understanding the actual landscape … you can’t actually enforce a lot of these laws. Even when it comes to just-cause evictions and rent control, there are a lot of people who escaped these laws because they either purposely mislead their tenants or they don’t know (about the laws).

Q: Do you think state and local eviction moratoriums and rental aid programs during the pandemic have changed the conversation around tenant protections?

A: Escalating rents obviously keep housing affordability in the public mind for everyone. The (eviction moratorium and rental assistance programs) proved that the state can be effective in emergency situations in helping with (housing insecurity). So now that we’ve opened these doors, people understand that more can be done.