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AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
-based
501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
nonprofit organization providing medicine and health care to individuals living with or affected by
HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
. As of 2020, it operates about 400 clinics, 64 outpatient healthcare centers, 48 pharmacies, and 20
Out of the Closet Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
thrift stores across 15 US states and 38 countries, with more than 5,000 employees. Under the leadership of founder and president Michael Weinstein, AHF has since 2012 become highly active in sponsoring and exclusively financing multiple high profile
ballot initiatives In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a pu ...
in two states, starting with a successful
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
initiative to require condoms in adult films (
Measure B Measure B, also known as the ''County of Los Angeles Safer Sex In the Adult Film Industry Act,'' is the law that requires the use of condoms in all vaginal and anal sex scenes in pornography productions filmed in Los Angeles County, Californi ...
), and then a similar statewide initiative which failed ( 2016 California Proposition 60). They also ran two measures seeking to cap prescription drug prices (
California Proposition 61 (2016) Proposition 61 was a California ballot proposition that appeared on the November 8, 2016 ballot. It would have prohibited the state of California from buying any prescription drug from a drug manufacturer at price over the lowest price paid for ...
and Ohio Issue 2 (2017)), both of which failed. Since 2017, the organization has shifted its political focus to attempting to block housing construction through lawsuits against many new projects, as well as an initiative seeking to block local development in Los Angeles ( 2017 Los Angeles Measure S), and two seeking to allow for the expansion of rent control in California ( 2018 California Proposition 10 and 2020 California Proposition 21); these three failed at the polls. Regarding the housing initiatives, critics have questioned whether the group is misusing foundation and taxpayer money by sponsoring ballot initiatives they consider unrelated to the stated mission of the organization.


History


Early years: AIDS Hospice Foundation and Chris Brownlie Hospice

In 1987, activists Chris Brownlie, Michael Weinstein, Sharon Raphael, PhD, Mina Meyer, MA, and other advocates were among the earliest champions of the AIDS hospice movement. They co-founded the Los Angeles AIDS Hospice Committee, which was the catalyst for the AIDS Hospice Foundation that we know today as the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Members of the inaugural AIDS Hospice Committee—Brownlie, Weinstein, Myer, Raphael, Paul Coleman and others—negotiated for the opening of Chris Brownlie Hospice by protesting and picketing of then-Supervisor Mike Antonovich's home. Following an emotional plea for hospice care to Los Angeles County Commission on AIDS, which included the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, they secured a $2 million commitment to AIDS care on the grounds of the Barlow Respiratory Hospital. The group began converting a facility in Elysian Park that had been Barlow's old nursing quarters into Chris Brownlie Hospice —the County's first AIDS hospice—which was named in Brownlie's honor when it first opened December 26, 1988. Meyer, who also served as Treasurer of the AIDS Hospice Committee, was honored in 1987 by the Los Angeles AIDS Hospice Committee with its 'Heart of Gold Award' for her early work in the effort to formulate AIDS hospice care in Los Angeles. The 25-bed hospice—the first of three operated by AHF, including the Carl Bean House and Linn House, which opened in 1992 and 1995, respectively—provided 24-hour medical and palliative care to people living through the final stages of AIDS. Brownlie died at the age of 39, on November 26, 1989, less than a year after the hospice named in his honor first opened, survived by his father, sister, brothers, his longtime partner, Phil Wilson and countless friends and fellow AIDS activists. In addition to Brownlie, over 1,000 people had been given dignified, specialized, compassionate final care at the Chris Brownlie Hospice by the time it ended hospice operations in September 1996. The building that housed the Brownlie Hospice went through its own rebirths, housing various departments of AHF, including the headquarters for AHF's Public Health Division, before the organization officially turned the property back over to the City of Los Angeles with a sunset memorial ceremony on January 26, 2013.


AIDS Healthcare Foundation Expands

As medical opportunities for managing HIV became more available, AHF changed its mission to helping individuals with HIV/AIDS live well with the disease through advanced medical care. This shift was marked with the change of the Foundation's name to AIDS Healthcare Foundation in July 1990. AHF operates the
Out of the Closet Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
thrift store chain. AHF acquired the MOMS Pharmacy chain of pharmacies in 2012, and in 2013, rebranded the chain as AHF Pharmacy. AHF sponsored HIV awareness themed
Rose Parade The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade (or simply the Tournament of Roses), is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day (or on Monday, January 2 if N ...
floats in 2012 and 2013, each winning the Queen's Trophy for best use of roses. AHF produced the documentary film ''Keep The Promise: The Global Fight Against AIDS'', depicting the AHF sponsored protest of government anti-HIV funding levels and anti-HIV drug prices at the
XIX International AIDS Conference, 2012 The XIX International AIDS Conference was a conference held in Washington, D.C. from 22 to 27 July 2012 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, run by the International AIDS Society. Theme The theme of the conference is "Turning the Tide Tog ...
. The film premiered on March 29, 2013 at the
Vail Film Festival The Vail Film Festival is an independent film festival that has taken place annually in Vail, Colorado since 2004. The 19th annual Vail Film Festival will take place virtually from December 1 to 4, 2022. The festival was founded by Sean Cross and ...
.


Housing

In 2017, AHF started acquiring hotels (often
single-room occupancy Single room occupancy (more commonly abbreviated to SRO) is a form of housing that is typically aimed at residents with low or minimal incomes who rent small, furnished single rooms with a bed, chair, and sometimes a small desk. SRO units are ren ...
) in the Los Angeles area for conversion to affordable housing units, renting them for about $400–600 per month. By 2020, it owned seven such properties totalling 800 units. In 2020, tenants in one of the AHF's apartment buildings sued the AHF over slum-like conditions in the building.


Safer sex advocacy

AHF hosts global events to both commemorate those lost to HIV/AIDS and educate the public about the importance of safer sex with condom use. Each year on December 1, AHF marks World AIDS Day with a series of international events throughout many of the countries where AHF operates. It is an opportunity to reflect on the progress made in battling HIV/AIDS over the years and be a reminder of the work left to be done amid the 1.7 million new HIV infections every year. International Condom Day is an AHF holiday celebrated on February 13. It was created to promote safer sex and provide access to condoms and free Rapid Testing. AHF uses World AIDS Day and International Condom Day as fun ways to engage with people, get them tested for HIV, and get them connected to care if they need it.


Advocacy for reducing drug prices

In November 2006, AHF asked Indian anti-HIV drug manufacturer
Cipla Cipla Limited (stylized as Cipla) is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Mumbai. Cipla primarily develops medicines to treat respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, diabetes, depression and many oth ...
to reduce the price of its combination drug
Viraday Efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir, sold under the brand name Atripla among others, is a fixed-dose combination antiretroviral medication used to treat HIV/AIDS. It contains efavirenz, emtricitabine, and tenofovir disoproxil. It can be used by ...
from its launch price of about Rs 62,000 per year. Cipla CEO Y. K. Hamied cited taxes and custom duties on raw materials as reasons for the high price, but agreed to a price cut. In January 2007, AHF filed suit in Los Angeles over
Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...
's direct-to-consumer marketing of
Viagra Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra, among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is unclear if it is effective for treating sexual dysfunction in women. It is taken by ...
, accusing Pfizer of promoting off-label, recreational use of Viagra, and suggesting a link between Viagra,
methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...
, and unsafe sex. Pfizer denied AHF's claims, and mentioned that AHF had recently asked Pfizer to fund an educational program about meth. In August 2007, AHF began purchasing full-page ads in Indian newspapers accusing Cipla of overpricing. According to AHF, a year's worth of Viraday cost Rs 54,000 when sold in India, but only Rs 21,000 when exported to Africa. Some NGOs declined to join AHF in criticizing Cipla's drug prices, citing a potential conflict of interest: Cipla's opposition to the patent application for
Viread Tenofovir disoproxil, sold under the trade name Viread among others, is a medication used to treat chronic hepatitis B and to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use with other antiretrovirals. It may be used for preven ...
, a component of Viraday, filed by AHF contributor
Gilead Sciences Gilead Sciences, Inc. () is an American biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Foster City, California, that focuses on researching and developing antiviral drugs used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, influenza, and C ...
. Gilead denied involvement in AHF's complaint, and an AHF regional chief stated that AHF also opposed Gilead's patent application for Viread. After months of AHF campaigning against Cipla, the company is brought under investigation by the
Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator unde ...
(MRTPC) and moves to reduce the price of Viraday and Efavir in India by 15%. In March 2008, AHF petitioned drug manufacturers including Abbot, Boehringer Ingelheim,
Bristol-Myers Squibb The Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in New York City, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks on the ''Fortune'' 500 list of the lar ...
, Gilead, GSK, Merck, Pfizer, Roche and Tibotec to freeze the price of their HIV drugs in the U.S, stating that as a result of regular drug price increases "HIV/AIDS assistance programs will essentially be flat funded and unable to provide access to additional people in need of lifesaving drugs." In June, the organization applauded decisions by Boehringer Ingelheim and
Gilead Sciences Gilead Sciences, Inc. () is an American biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Foster City, California, that focuses on researching and developing antiviral drugs used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, influenza, and C ...
to freeze prices on antiretroviral medications purchased by government agencies. In September 2013, AHF filed a lawsuit in California against GSK alleging that the company "...failed to fully satisfy its obligations with respect to discounts for drugs it sold to AIDS Healthcare Foundation over a period of many years," under the 340B Drug Pricing Program, a federal drug discount program designed to stretch scarce federal resources as far as possible for community healthcare providers such as AHF.


Legal activism

In May 1999, AHF filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles over the mismanagement of AIDS Housing Funds. Following a state legislator's audit, the Los Angeles City Controller revealed that more than $17 million in federal funds for people with AIDS went unspent as an AIDS homeless crisis raged in Los Angeles.


Condom laws litigation in Los Angeles and Las Vegas

In 2004,
Darren James Darren James (born Darren Keith Edwards; February 25, 1964) is an American former pornographic actor and director. He gained notoriety after he contracted HIV and infected three pornographic actresses in 2004. Discovery of infection and after ...
and three other adult film actors tested positive for HIV. In response to the outbreak, AHF began lobbying in favor of laws requiring condom use by male actors during sex scenes in adult films. In 2010, AHF unsuccessfully sued the
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
government to compel its health department to mandate condom use in adult film productions. In 2012, AHF supported a Los Angeles city ordinance requiring condoms in certain adult films. Later the same year, the organization spent US$1,654,681 funding the successful campaign to pass
Measure B Measure B, also known as the ''County of Los Angeles Safer Sex In the Adult Film Industry Act,'' is the law that requires the use of condoms in all vaginal and anal sex scenes in pornography productions filmed in Los Angeles County, Californi ...
, a ballot initiative that expanded the condom requirement countywide. AHF again sued the Los Angeles County government, alleging that an August 2012 audit conducted by the county was an illegal retaliation for AHF's support for Measure B. In 2013, AHF began collecting signatures for a ballot measure to create a Los Angeles city health department that would take over part of the county health department's jurisdiction. The City of Los Angeles and County of Los Angeles oppose the measure, and the city has filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the measure. In August 2014, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed a formal complaint with Nevada OSHA, against Cybernet Entertainment LLC, which does business as
Kink.com Kink.com is a San Francisco-based bondage internet pornography company that runs a group of websites devoted to BDSM and related fetishes. Kink.com, along with Kink Studios, LLC, Hogtied.com and Behindkink.com are DBAs for Cybernet Entertainme ...
and related spin-offs. The complaint alleges the California porn company did not require its actors to use condoms during an adult film shoot in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
.


2013 Los Angeles lawsuit

In 2013, AHF found itself entangled in dual lawsuits when AHF attempted to use political clout to force the City of Los Angeles to develop health services independent from the county. Health officials in affected departments filed responsive suits, arguing massive wastes would result in a transition or duplication of services.


2014 lawsuits

In 2014, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed suit against the City of San Francisco. AHF claimed that city restrictions on chain stores targeted them unfairly when the organization attempted to open a retail store. In 2014, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed suit against the County of Dallas. AHF claimed that the County did not give the agency a fair chance to bid for federal AIDS funding. In 2014, AHF was audited by Los Angeles county and billed $1.7 million for duplicated services. AHF filed suit, arguing that they were targeted on the basis of their political actions in the 2013 lawsuit. The lawsuit filed by AHF was thrown out by a judge. The billing case was dismissed, finding AHF had not billed the county for $6 million in allowable services with neither the foundation nor the county having to repay funds.


2015 Broward County Court

In 2015, a whistleblower lawsuit was filed by three former AHF managers. The employees allege AHF engaged and even documented kickback processes for positive HIV test results for social workers.


2016 East Baton Rouge lawsuit

In 2016, the AIDS healthcare foundation filed suit against East Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana, claiming it was discriminated against in the awarding of healthcare contracts. The suit specifically targeted funds given to longtime-standing local AIDS service organizations such as HIV/AIDS Alliance for Region Two, Family Service of Greater Baton Rouge, and others. The suit was settled with funding left unchanged.


Housing policy

In an interview with The Advocate in 2016, Weinstein stated: "Why isn't there development in South L.A.? Why isn't there development in Boyle Heights? Why concentrate all this development in Hollywood? You have a ransit linein the Valley and a ransit linein South L.A.". Those and other similar statements have led opponents to characterize Weinstein as a rich
NIMBY NIMBY (or nimby), an acronym for the phrase "not in my back yard", is a characterization of opposition by residents to proposed developments in their local area, as well as support for strict land use regulations. It carries the connotation that ...
who opposes development because it would add traffic to his commute and block the views from his office building, rather than because he cares about the plight of poor renters or people with HIV. Dana Cuff, an urban planning professor at the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
stated that Weinstein's housing opposition "is not understandable ... I'd go further than that; it's actually a misuse of their funds. ... They're putting a lot of energy into stopping this project," says Cuff. "If they put that same energy into getting some of this project to be affordable, I would understand
heir motivation Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officia ...
But to just stop it—they couldn't possibly be concerned about affordable housing."


2016 Los Angeles Palladium Development lawsuit

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) filed suit against the City of Los Angeles, alleging that the city violated laws and the city charter when it approved the development of two residential towers that are expected to be up to 30 stories tall. The City Council changed existing
zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...
and height limitations to allow the development, which would be next to AHF's Hollywood headquarters. A spokesperson for the development accused Michael Weinstein of filing the suit to maintain the view from his office. In 2019, the California Supreme Court Refused to hear the case, leaving in place a lower court decision against the foundation.


2022 L.A. City Council Housing Element Dispute

In 2022, the AHF sued to block Los Angeles's Housing Element, which is a new strategy by the L.A. City Council to increase housing supply in L.A. with a goal of producing 500,000 new housing units by 2030, with 200,000 of those being affordable units.


Ballot initiatives


Condom use in adult films


2012 Los Angeles County Measure B "County of Los Angeles Safer Sex In the Adult Film Industry Act" - succeeded

AHF spent $1.7 million sponsoring an initiative that requires the use of
condom A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of in ...
s in all
vaginal In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hyme ...
and
anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involving s ...
sex scenes in
pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,
productions filmed in
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
, California. It passed 57% – 43%.


2016 California Proposition 60 "Adult Film Condom Requirements" - failed

AHF spent $5.0 million (almost ten times what the total opposition spent) as the only financial backer of a statewide initiative that would have allowed Cal/OSHA to prosecute an enforcement action anytime a condom is not visible in a pornographic film. It failed, 54% to 46%.


Drug pricing


2013 San Francisco Proposition D - succeeded

In 2013 AHF sponsored Proposition D in the City of
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, which required the city to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers and set a city policy to request that state and federal lawmakers create laws that would reduce drug prices. It passed 80% – 20%.


2016 California Proposition 61 "California Drug Price Relief Act" - failed

AHF spent $18.7 million as the almost sole supporter of the California Drug Price Relief Act, (the opposition spent $109 million, making this the most expensive ballot measure to date across California and the United States) a statewide 2016 ballot initiative that would have revised California law to require state programs to pay no more for prescription medications than the prices negotiated by the
United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...
(notwithstanding any other provision of law and insofar as permissible under federal law), while exempting managed care programs funded through
Medi-Cal The California Medical Assistance Program (Medi-Cal or MediCal) is California's Medicaid program serving low-income individuals, including families, seniors, persons with disabilities, children in foster care, pregnant women, and childless adults w ...
. It failed by a 6% margin.


2017 Ohio Issue 2 "Ohio Drug Price Relief Act" - failed

AHF spend $18 million as the almost exclusive sponsor of the Ohio Drug Price Relief Act (the opposition raised $59 million). According to the Ohio petition language, "The Ohio Drug Price Relief Act would ... require that notwithstanding any other provision of law and in so far as permissible under federal law, the State of Ohio shall not enter into any agreement for the purchase of prescription drugs or agree to pay, directly or indirectly, for prescription drugs, including where the state is the ultimate payer, unless the net cost is the same or less than the lowest price paid for the same drug by the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs." The initiative lost, 79% – 21%.


Housing


2017 Los Angeles city Measure S "Neighborhood Integrity Initiative" - failed

In 2016, the foundation sponsored and provided more than 95% of the funding ($5.5 million) for an anti-development
ballot initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a p ...
, Measure S, which was rejected with 70.4% voting against. This initiative would have imposed a two-year moratorium on
spot zoning Spot zoning is the application of zoning to a specific parcel or parcels of land within a larger zoned area when the rezoning is usually at odds with a city's master plan and current zoning restrictions. Spot zoning may be ruled invalid as an "arbi ...
as well as developments requiring height and density variances and other changes that would, it claimed, prevent the city from
gentrifying Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...
and growing too fast. "As we work to house patients in L.A., City Hall focuses on approving $3,500 apartments that sit empty," Weinstein wrote in a ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
''
op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...
. Opponents, who included many advocacy groups for the homeless as well as the city's business community, building trades unions, and developers, said that while the measure addressed some real problems, it went too far and would have not only prevented the construction of new affordable housing but made the city's overall
quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
worse by aggravating an existing housing shortage. They questioned whether the money spent by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to get the initiative on the ballot was related to the foundation's mission, and suggested that it was motivated by AHF director Michael Weinstein's desire to block a development that would have dominated the view from his office window.


2018 California Proposition 10 "Repeal of Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act" - failed

AHF contributed $22.5 million to the campaign for Proposition 10, a ballot initiative which sought to repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Act. The measure would have allowed local governments to adopt
rent control Rent regulation is a system of laws, administered by a court or a public authority, which aims to ensure the affordability of housing and tenancies on the rental market for dwellings. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: * Price con ...
on any kind of building. Costa-Hawkins is a state law which disallows local governments (cities and counties) from enacting rent control on buildings constructed after 1995, all single-family homes (regardless of construction date), and disallows laws that keep a property under rent control when tenants change (vacancy control). The proposition failed, 59% to 41%.


2020 California Proposition 21 "Expands Local Governments’ Authority to Enact Rent Control on Residential Property" - failed

In 2019, the California legislature passed and the governor signed AB 1482, which created a statewide rent cap for the next 10 years. The Tenant Protection Act of 2019 caps annual rent increases at 5% plus regional inflation, pegged to the rental rate as of March 2019. The new law does not apply to buildings built within the prior 15 years, or to single-family homes (unless owned by corporations or institutional investors) and retains "vacancy decontrol", meaning that rents can increase to market rate between tenants. In 2020, Michael Weinstein, AHF's founder, sponsored and financed a second ballot initiative to allow more rent control, because he felt that AB 1482 (above) did not provide enough tenant protections, such as limiting rent increases between tenants. AHF spent $40 million (99.8% of the supporters' funding) in support of Proposition 21 (the opposition spent $85 million). It appeared on the ballot on November 3, 2020 and would have allowed local governments to establish rent control on residential properties that have been occupied for over 15 years. It would also have allowed landlords who own no more than two homes to exempt themselves from such policies, and would also have capped rent increases between tenancies at 15% over three years (vacancy control). Proposition 21 was rejected by 60% of California voters, like Proposition 10 (above) before it.


See also

*
Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation The Adult Industry Medical Associates P.C. (formerly Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation), also known simply as AIM or AIM Medical, was a non-profit organization devoted to STD testing of pornographic actors for HIV and other STDs on a s ...
* Performer Availability Screening Services


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aids Healthcare Foundation 1987 establishments in California HIV/AIDS organizations in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Los Angeles Organizations established in 1987 STDs in the sex industry 501(c)(3) organizations