SACRAMENTO, Calif. — They rallied outside the state Capitol Monday yelling “Lower the rent!” They occupied the office of Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas for an hour later in the day, telling stories of rising prices.

And more supporters of a bill that would strengthen and expand a state rental protection law filed into the Capitol Tuesday morning for a hearing that could determine the fate of the measure.

But the pressure campaign was not enough to pass Assembly Bill 1157. The legislation would restrict the ability of landlords to raise rents by at most 5% annually every year, cutting in half the state’s current limit.

“I’m living with housing insecurity,” said a woman who identified herself as Zapatista Zapala, shortly after the Assembly Judiciary Committee failed to pass the measure.

Tears streamed down her face as she described how the rent for her one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles was going to rise another 10% to $2,650. She carpooled up to Sacramento to be at the Capitol for the hearing.

“It’s gutted my soul.”

The current rent cap limit, of at most 10%, was set by the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, which also protects renters from eviction unless they stop paying their rent or violate their lease, among other specific situations.

Last week, during his State of the State speech, Gov. Gavin Newsom heralded its passage.

“In 2019, we passed the strongest statewide renter protections in the United States of America,“ said the governor, who started his first term in office that year. “We did that together.”

But the law is set to expire on Jan. 1, 2030.

Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, had hoped that legislators would be willing to make it permanent and extend it to apply to single-family homes.

“We cannot continue to ignore our peoples’ struggles and the calls for this Legislature to do something about the rising cost of rent,” said Kalra, who chairs the committee. He offered to do away with the provision to have it apply to single-family homes to try and move the bill forward. He also said he was open to more changes.

But that was not enough to overcome opposition to the measure.

The California Building Industry Association, the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Association of Realtors and other groups argued it put blame on providers of rental homes instead of going after what they said is the root of state’s housing issues: Not enough available places for people to live.

“It imposes rent caps without offering any corresponding control over rising insurance costs, fees at the local level, maintenance costs for rental property owners,” said Debra Carlton, a lobbyist for the California Apartment Association.

Opponents also said the measure would circumvent the will of California voters, which have defeated recent state propositions to enact rent control several times. In one example, voters rejected Proposition 33 in 2024, which would have allowed local governments to expand such restrictions.

Those arguments were highlighted by Republicans on the committee who opposed the measure. The final vote was 4-3, with five Democrats declining to vote on it.

One of them was Rick Chavez Zbur, D-Los Angeles.

“What I’m nervous about is the fact that the overall cap is actually lower than what the costs have been to operate these properties over the last five years,” he said. “And as you compound that every year you’re actually giving landlords incentives to move people out of their buildings.” Zbur said he supports the existing current cap.

When the bill did not pass in the committee, dozens of supporters yelled “Shame!” and “Fight, fight, fight!” and booed legislators as they left the hearing room. Many had traveled from L.A., San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area.

After the vote, supporters went over to Rivas’ office for a second day, requesting to meet with him about the bill. They sat in his office and in the nearby hallway.

One of them was Jesus Cacho, who lives in her car in the Sacramento area.

“They need to pass this bill,” she said. “We’re going to wait for him until he shows up. We are not giving up.”

Supporters eventually spoke with a staff member pleaded for rental relief.

The bill is likely to die this year. But the policy could be introduced in another measure during the current session or in a future one.

Before leaving a legislative office building in Sacramento, Christina Livingston, executive director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, addressed members of a group of the supporters who showed up for the bill.

“We can’t, like, go home and feel sorry for ourselves,” Livingston said. “We lost, that sucks. But there’s a lot of work to do.”

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