Special Episode: Propositions 33 & 34 – Rent Control and AIDS Healthcare Foundation Rules

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: On Wednesday, September 11, 2024, Capitol Weekly hosted the California Ballot Forum: 2024 Election Preview. Through spirited discussion and reasoned debate, proponents for each side explored the strengths and weaknesses of the proposals in a conversation moderated by a journalist.

Today’s episode features a discussion of Propositions 33 and 34.

In a state known for confusing, contentious ballot-box battles, Props 33 and 34 may be some of the most confounding ever, especially for the average California voter, who isn’t likely to be familiar with the background that plays a central role in both Propositions 33 and 34 but isn’t actually mentioned in the text of either.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation buys prescription drugs for HIV and AIDS patients at a federally endorsed discount. The foundation then turns around and bills insurers for the full price of those drugs, generating millions of dollars for the foundation. AHF president Michael Weinstein has used that windfall to fund ballot measures on housing development, drug prices, requiring the use of condoms in porn and, most notably, rent control, twice: in 2018 and 2021. Both times, Weinstein failed to persuade Californians to pass measures promoting affordable housing, which he calls “a human right, a social justice issue.”

The California Apartment Association opposes Prop. 33, and also are behind Proposition 34, which seeks to blow up Weinstein’s business model for funding ballot measures.

On paper, Prop. 34 would require that healthcare providers who spent more than $100 million on anything other than direct patient care over a decade and operated housing with more than 500 high-severity health and safety violations spend at least 98 percent of their revenue from the federal discount prescription program on patients. Those parameters actually could apply to more than one organization but make no mistake: the measure is squarely aimed at hindering Weinstein’s serial funding of ballot measures.

Because these measures are inextricably intertwined, we have chosen to present them together.

Proposition 33
EXPANDS LOCAL GOVERNMENTS’ AUTHORITY TO ENACT RENT CONTROL ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY. INITIATIVE STATUTE.

Proposition 34
RESTRICTS SPENDING OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG REVENUES BY CERTAIN HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS. INITIATIVE STATUTE.

The “Yes on 33/No on 34” side was presented by Susie Shannon

Susie Shannon is the Policy Director for Housing Is A Human Right. Susie has worked with unhoused and low-income communities since 2005. Having previously been unhoused herself, she advocates for unhoused and low-income communities through rent control policy, preserving public housing, fighting for new housing to be prioritized for the unhoused, and promoting adaptive reuse and prefabricated modular buildings for the unhoused.

The “No on 33/Yes on 34” side was presented by Nathan Click

Nathan Click is a national public affairs and communications expert. His California based firm, Click Strategies, builds communications and public affairs campaigns for civic leaders, non-profit organizations and private sector clients. Click Strategies serves as a political advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom and led all communications efforts in the Governor’s campaign to Stop the Republican Recall, with Click serving as a senior advisor. Click Strategies serves as a political advisor to Attorney General Rob Bonta and a number of political and civic leaders across the nation. Click recently served on U.S. Senator Alex Padilla’s transition team, a role he reprised from his tenure working for then U.S. Senator Kamala Harris.

The moderator was Rich Ehisen of Capitol Weekly

Rich Ehisen has been a reporter and editor for almost 30 years and is currently the editor in chief at Capitol Weekly, which covers the California State Capitol in Sacramento. For two decades previous he was the managing editor of the State Net Capitol Journal, a LexisNexis publication that covers state public policy issues and trends nationwide. In that role he was also the producer and host of the SNCJ Deep Dive podcast and the SNCJ Hot Issues webinar series. He is also the producer and moderator of The Open Mic: Writers in Their Own Words, a podcast and YouTube show that features his discussions on writing with authors, reporters and writers from across the artistic spectrum.

Capitol Weekly is a 501c3 nonprofit created to inform, enlighten and educate Californians about public policy and state governance, and to provide a nonpartisan platform for engagement with public officials, advocates and political interests.

Thanks to our underwriters for this event:

BICKER, CASTILLO, FAIRBANKS & SPITZ PUBLIC AFFAIRS, THE TRIBAL ALLIANCE OF SOVEREIGN INDIAN NATIONS, WESTERN STATES PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION, PHYSICIAN ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA; LUCAS PUBLIC AFFAIRS, KP PUBLIC AFFAIRS, PERRY COMMUNICATIONS, CAPITOL ADVOCACY, THE WEIDEMAN GROUP, CALIFORNIA PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS, THE NO ON 33 CAMPAIGN, and THE YES ON 34 CAMPAIGN