A contentious housing bill that would have capped rent increases to 5% a year died in the Assembly on Tuesday, a decision greeted with boos and cries of disapproval from spectators packed inside the committee chamber.

Assembly Bill 1157 would have lowered California’s limit on rent increases from 10% to 5% annually and removed a clause that allows the cap to expire in 2030. It also would have extended tenant protections to single-family homes — though the bill’s author, Assemblyman Ash Kalra (D-San José), offered to nix that provision.

“Millions of Californians are still struggling with the high cost of rent,” Kalra said. “We must do something to address the fact that the current law is not enough for many renters.”

Assemblymember Diane Dixon (R-Newport Beach) said she was concerned the Legislature was enacting too many mandates and restrictions on property owners. She pointed to a recent law requiring landlords to equip rentals with a refrigerator.

“That sounds nice and humanly caring and all that and warm and fuzzy but someone has to pay,” she said. “There is a cost to humanity and how far do we squeeze the property owners?”

The California Apartment Assn., California Building Industry Assn., California Chamber of Commerce and California Assn. of Realtors spoke against the legislation during Tuesday’s hearing before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Debra Carlton, spokesperson for the apartment association, said the bill sought to overturn the will of the voters who have rejected several ballot measures that would have imposed rent control.

“Rather than addressing the core issue, which is California’s severe housing shortage, AB 1157 places blame on the rental housing industry,” she said. “It sends a chilling message to investors and builders of housing that they are subject to a reversal of legislation and laws by lawmakers. This instability alone threatens to stall or reverse the great work legislators have done in California in the last several years.”

Supporters of the bill included the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action, a statewide nonprofit that works for economic and social justice. The measure is also sponsored by Housing Now, PICO California, California Public Advocates and Unite Here Local 11.

The legislation failed to collect the votes needed to pass out of committee.

On Monday, proponents rallied outside the Capitol to drum up support. “We are the renters; the mighty mighty renters,” they chanted. “Fighting for justice, affordable housing.”

“My rent is half of my income,” said Claudia Reynolds, who is struggling to make ends meet after a recent hip injury. “I give up a lot of things. I use a cellphone for light; I don’t have heat.”

Lydia Hernandez, a teacher and renter from Claremont, said she used to dream of owning a home. As the first person in her family to obtain a college degree, she thought it was an obtainable goal. But now she worries she won’t even be able to keep up with her apartment’s rent.

Hernandez recalled noticing a woman who had recently become homeless last week on her way to school.

“I started to tear up,” said Hernandez, her voice cracking. “I could see myself in her in my future, where I could spend my retirement years living an unsheltered life.”

After Tuesday’s vote, Anya Svanoe, communications director for ACCE Action, said many of their members felt betrayed.

“While housing production is a very important part of getting us out of this housing crisis, it isn’t enough,” she said. “Families are in dire need of protections right now and we can’t wait for trickle-down housing production.”

In California, 40.6% of households are spending more than 30% of their income on housing, according to an analysis released in 2024 by the Pew Research Center. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development considers households that spend more than 30% of their incomes on housing to be “cost burdened.”