Proposition 33, the statewide rent control ballot measure, is rejected by California voters

California voters on Tuesday rejected an attempt to allow stricter rent control laws in California. This was the third time in recent years that such a measure was rejected.

Proposition 33 would have allowed cities and counties to enact stricter rent control laws than they can now.

The Associated Press declared the ballot measure's defeat late Tuesday night.

A state law called the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act prohibits municipalities from capping rent on vacant units, single-family homes and apartments built after February 1, 1995, or in some cases earlier. Proposition 33 would have repealed this law.

The measure was proposed by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which funded two similar initiatives in recent years that were also rejected after the real estate industry spent more money on its backers, saying the measures would spur housing construction and worsen the affordability crisis would.

To stop further rent control initiatives, the California Apartment Assn. supported another measure on the ballot, Proposition 34. That measure would restrict how certain health care providers spend revenue from a federal prescription drug program, the most obvious target being the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

As of Tuesday night, the vote on Proposition 34 was too close to cancel.