“During my time as mayor, we saw the biggest housing boom in 50 years,” he said.

During his first year in the Senate, he authored three housing bills, mostly aimed at helping local governments comply with state housing law. He also signed on as one of the co-authors of Assembly Bill 609, the bill exempting infill housing from the California Environmental Quality Act that was eventually included in the budget. Arreguín called the bill a “game-changer.”

Arreguín also brings to the job his lived experience as a renter — one of only three renters in the Senate — and says he strongly supports rent control and eviction protections.

“We can't address housing affordability by just focusing on rental protections. We need to do that, and we also need to build housing.”

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