Sacramento, CA – State Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath issued the following statement regarding her decision to make AB 1731 a two-year bill.
“I am proud to be working this year with my colleagues on solutions that will help address the very real need for homes for families, seniors, young people, and veterans throughout our state. However, any of the difficult work we do to bring people together to address our unprecedented housing crisis is undermined when we continue to allow the hyper-accelerated conversion of available housing into full-time short-term vacation rentals made possible by web-based platforms like Airbnb. That was why I introduced AB 1731.
“This bill has always been about slowing the bleeding when it comes to our housing stock and returning some semblance of control to our local communities. I have worked diligently with community stakeholders and my colleagues in the Assembly and Senate throughout the process to craft a bill that could do just that. Even after the bill’s successful passage yesterday from Senate Natural Resources with a 6-1 vote, I was still working on amendments to refine it.
“I was elected to create sound public policy, not score quick political wins. That is why I made the decision today to hold the bill and take more time to work on it through the next year. Our state is in a housing crisis, not a short-term vacation rental crisis, and I remain committed to looking for ways to preserve our existing housing, use what we have more efficiently, and grow where we can.”
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