West

Biden's rent-control plan will only make America’s housing crisis worse

Published

2 years ago

July 22, 2024

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Biden's rent-control plan will only make America’s housing crisis worse

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President Joe Biden is suggesting that a federal limit on annual rent increases in residential units will ease housing costs. This is what happens when economist Milton Friedman isn’t “running the show”: Policymakers follow ideas that make the problem they say they’re solving infinitely worse.

“While the prior administration gave special tax breaks to corporate landlords, I’m working to lower housing costs for families,” Biden said Tuesday. He urged congressional Republicans to “join Democrats to pass my plan to lower housing costs for Americans,” in which corporate owners would have “a choice to either cap rent increases on existing units at 5% or risk losing current valuable federal tax breaks.”

If he had only looked west, he would have seen the damage caused by rent-control policies in California.

BIDEN UNVEILS PLAN TO CAP NATIONAL RENT INCREASES AT 5%

California is one of the most rent-controlled states in the country. Even though more than a dozen cities have some type of law that limits how much owners can increase rental rates, it is going through a resurgence of anti-landlord rules, which is sure to spike even higher if voters approve a measure on the November ballot that repeals state limits on rent control.

President Joe Biden proposed national rent control, which has already failed locally, especially in California. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

While common sense tells us that rent control laws are counterproductive, it’s clear that lawmakers often miss the obvious. For those, and for the activists who believe rent ceilings are beneficial, we have data.

For instance, a 2019 study by the American Economic Association found that San Francisco landlords “treated by rent control” reduced “rental housing supplies by 15% by selling to owner-occupants and redeveloping buildings,” which “likely drove up market rents in the long run, ultimately undermining the goals of” the city’s 1994 ballot initiative.

The authors noted that “a substantial body of economic research has warned about potential negative efficiency consequences of limiting rent increases below market rates.” Those consequences include the “overconsumption of housing by tenants of rent-controlled apartments”; the misallocation of housing; “negative spillovers onto neighboring housing” that lower “the amenity value of these neighborhoods and mak(e) them less desirable places to live”; and “neglect of required maintenance” – because who’s going to pour money into an asset when the law cuts into the return on that investment?

Rent control in Berkeley in the late 1970s created a large-scale dislocation because “a large number of University of California-Berkeley students simply stayed in their apartments long after graduation,” says economics professor William L. Anderson. The result was a “massive shortage of housing for new students, who then had to look for housing in nearby cities like Oakland.”

A two-decade study by California State University, Sacramento and the Sacramento Regional Research Institute discovered that rent control laws in Berkeley and Santa Monica reduced the supply of rental housing by nearly 7.5% in the former and more than 8.7% in the latter.

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Over that period, the number of college-age students living in Berkeley fell by almost 11%, while in Santa Monica, “formerly a haven for UCLA students,” the college-age student population dropped more than 50%.

In California’s biggest city, rent control has so skewed the housing market that property owners are offering tenants large sums of money, in some cases as high as six figures, as an incentive to move out. The hardship of rent control is forcing owners to make difficult decisions about their properties. Sometimes, the only options are demolishing their units and using the real estate for other purposes because they cannot afford to continue leasing their property.

While common sense tells us that rent control laws are counterproductive, it’s clear that lawmakers often miss the obvious. For those, and for the activists who believe rent ceilings are beneficial, we have data.

Even the state’s own nonpartisan fiscal and policy adviser has warned lawmakers of the negative consequences of rent control. In a 2016 report, the Legislative Analyst’s Office said rent-control laws fail to “increase the supply of housing and, in fact, likely would discourage new construction,” which is perpetually needed in California to drive housing down to more affordable prices.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden said “Milton Friedman isn’t running the show anymore,” in an interview in which he said the next federal pandemic stimulus needed to be “a hell of a lot bigger” than the $2 trillion CARES Act that had just passed.

Friedman was a brilliant economist who would have bristled at the ease in which today’s lawmakers spend other people’s money. But he never ran whatever show Biden had in mind, though he did, as economist Stephen Moore has said, have “a profound impact on major policy decisions.” Biden would be wise to follow the advice that Friedman freely gave during his life, but he instead has chosen to take California foolishness national.

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San Francisco, CA

Flooding closes portions of highways near Sonoma

Published

1 hour ago

February 16, 2026

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Flooding closes portions of highways near Sonoma

Updated on: February 16, 2026 / 12:44 PM PST
/ CBS San Francisco

Heavy rain and high tides have led to flooding near Sonoma, prompting Caltrans to close portions of major Wine Country roads.

A portion of state Highway 12 was closed from Watmaugh Road to the intersection with state Highway 121 south of Sonoma. In addition, Highway 121 was closed from Fremont Drive to its intersection with Highway 12.

Caltrans said its estimated the closures would remain in effect until about 5 a.m. on Wednesday.

KPIX First Alert Weather: Current conditions, alerts, maps for your area

Forecasters have issued a coastal flood advisory for the San Francisco Bay Area, including the North Bay interior valleys until 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Motorists were advised to check current road conditions at quickmap.dot.ca.gov or by calling 800-427-7623.

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Denver, CO

Denver considers kicking out Flock — but keeping license plate cameras

Published

2 hours ago

February 16, 2026

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Denver considers kicking out Flock — but keeping license plate cameras

Denver is considering ending its relationship with Flock, a controversial company that maintains a network of license-plate reading cameras in the city, but Mayor Mike Johnston’s office plans to continue using that technology.

“We are currently fielding bids for license plate reader services,” Jon Ewing, a spokesman for the mayor’s office, said Monday. “The chosen provider will be weighed on several factors and will be required to comply with an exhaustive list of expectations regarding data retention, information sharing, and access limitations.”

The city’s current contract with Flock ends on March 31. The mayor’s office plans to submit a new contract to the City Council “in the coming weeks,” he said.

Atlanta-based Flock has faced national scrutiny for its artificial intelligence-powered system, with many critics arguing that the company has built a nationwide mass-surveillance network ripe for abuse. In Colorado, where Johnston and police chiefs have cited the cameras’ assistance in nabbing criminals, the technology has also led to wrongful accusations of crimes.

Some are also concerned the cameras may be aiding in President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation campaign. Data collected in Denver by Flock was used in immigration-related national searches more than 1,400 times between June 2024 and April 2025, according to Colorado Newsline. Trump returned to office in January 2025.

Hundreds of people have complained to the city about its relationship with the company. Community feedback is one of the reasons the city is now considering a new provider for the technology, Ewing said.

The council unanimously rejected a two-year contract with Flock last May, partly because the mayor’s office requested they do so after hearing backlash from council members and the public. Johnston’s administration then twice extended the contract without council approval, most recently in October.

Under that extension, Johnston’s administration added new requirements to Flock’s contract that were intended to protect sensitive data.

Johnston has said the technology has been a “game changer” for combating crime, leading to hundreds of arrests and recovered stolen vehicles.

The 111 Flock cameras operating in Denver were installed at 70 intersections in 2024 as part of an eight-month pilot program.

The continuing extensions have caused considerable tension between the mayor’s office and the council. Several members have lambasted Johnston’s office over the cameras.

“Flock Safety’s cavalier treatment of our data should have disqualified them from continuing to operate on our streets long ago,” Councilwoman Sarah Parady, one of the most vocal critics of Flock, said Monday. “Moving forward, this experience should be a wake-up call for all of us in city leadership to be far more rigorous about when we collect data in the first place and how we protect it.”

She said she was working with council colleagues and the mayor’s task force on “legislative guardrails,” adding: “I hope the mayor will approach other surveillance companies with far less credulity than has been the case so far.”

The cameras operate by snapping photos of every car that passes through the intersections where they are based. The system then cross-references the license plates with national and local law enforcement databases.

If a plate matches one listed in the system as associated with a car that’s been reported stolen or involved with a crime, the Denver Police Department is notified — with a pinpoint of where the photo was taken — within about 15 seconds.

The photos are stored for 30 days unless they are flagged as part of an investigation.

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Seattle, WA

Seattle Mariners acquire LHP Josh Simpson from Marlins – Seattle Sports

Published

2 hours ago

February 16, 2026

Press Room

Seattle Mariners acquire LHP Josh Simpson from Marlins – Seattle Sports

The Seattle Mariners suddenly have a number of left-handed options for their bullpen, with the latest addition coming in a transaction Monday.

Amid hype, Mariners’ Kade Anderson aims to ‘live in the moment’

The M’s have acquired 28-year-old southpaw reliever Josh Simpson from the Miami Marlins for cash considerations, the team announced late Monday morning.

Simpson has been added to Seattle’s 40-man roster. Right-handed starting pitcher Logan Evans, who underwent surgery to repair a torn UCL last month and will miss the entire 2026 season, has been placed on the 60-day injured list to make room on the roster for Simpson.

With the addition of Simpson, the Mariners have four left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster in spring training, with the others being Gabe Speier, Jose Ferrer and Robinson Ortiz. All but Speier are offseason acquisitions. Last season, Speier was typically one of two lefties in Seattle’s bullpen, and the only one who was particularly effective.

The 6-foot-2 Simpson made his major league debut in 2025 with the Marlins, appearing in 31 games. He finished the season with a 7.34 ERA, 1.83 WHIP, .272 opponent batting average, and 36 strikeouts to 22 walks over 30 2/3 innings pitched. He was much better when pitching against left-handed batters, who hit .207 against him last year compared to a .328 average by right-handed hitters.

A 32nd-round MLB Draft pick by Miami in 2019 out of Columbia, Simpson also appeared in 29 games for Triple-A Jacksonville in 2025, where he had a 3.41 ERA, 1.019 WHIP and 29 strikeouts to 16 walks over 34 1/3 innings.

Simpson was designated for assignment last Thursday by the Marlins after their signing of another left-handed reliever, John King.

Per Statcast, Simpson’s four-seam fastball and sinker both sit around 94 mph, though he relied heavily upon breaking pitches in the big leagues last year. His most used pitch was a sweeper that averaged 82.4 mph at 25.8% in 2025, followed closely by a curveball that averaged 80.6 mph at 23.7%. He used his sinker 22.2% and the four-seamer 11.7%, and his changeup that averaged 89.2 mph was deployed 10.9% of the time.

More on the Seattle Mariners

• Mariners’ Bryan Woo turned down WBC invite; eyeing 200 IP
• Mariners’ Cal Raleigh lands cover for a baseball video game
• The Mariners’ big question now is bullpen, which isn’t the worst thing
• Brendan Donovan is already fitting right in with Mariners
• Morosi: Seattle Mariners are the least-flawed AL contender

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