Reflections on the Rent is Too Damn High Rally in Lansing

I spent a good chunk of the day at the Rent is Too Damn High Rally at the Lansing State Capital on Tuesday.

There were several hundred people in attendance, from communities all across Michigan, some of them organized with tenant unions and others with non-profits who have made housing a priority for the populations they work with. 

The rally featured several speakers, some who were part of organizing the rally and some from other community-based groups. However, some of the most powerful comments came directly from tenants, those who are most impacted by the increased costs of living in rental units that are driven by landlords and property management companies that put profit before people.

The Rent is Too Damn High is a growing statewide coalition, which presented its list of demands at the beginning of the rally, demands that some might consider ambitious. However, these demands are based on the collective lived experiences of tenants across the state and across the country. The four demands are as follows, which are taken directly from this link.

Rent Control – Remove the state-wide ban on rent control so municipalities can take action to stabilize rents and protect tenants. Rent control is any policy that directly regulates or limits landlords’ ability to raise rents on an annual basis. For instance, a city may limit increases to a certain percentage, or according to some other formula. Rent control provides tenants with the security of knowing they won’t be priced out due to arbitrary and excessive increases in rent. These types of local policies were banned by the state legislature in 1988. We support a repeal of this ban on rent control.

Social Housing – $4 billion for social housing in FY25 state budget. “Social housing is a public option for housing that is permanently affordable, protected from the private market, and publicly owned by the government or under democratic community control by non-profit and cooperative entities. Around the world, robust social housing programs have ended affordable housing shortages; expanded democratic accountability and equitable housing access; and raised populations out of poverty and into prosperity.” Social housing is built to house people well, rather than deliver a profit to developers & managers. States and municipalities in the US are initiating social housing programs anchored by a new generation of public-sector housing development agencies. We support a $4 billion state infusion into social housing, to be administered regionally by public developers. This amount could directly support approximately 40-50,000 new social housing units, which would make significant progress towards the state-established goal of building 75,000 total new homes over the next 5 years.

Housing First – $1 billion for people experiencing and at risk of homelessness in FY25 state budget. Housing First is a successful and evidence-based approach to reducing homelessness that focuses on providing housing to people, rather than criminalizing or pathologizing them. We support a $1 billion state infusion into programs of direct service, rapid rehousing, and permanent supportive housing, with a housing first lens. These funds should be distributed and administered regionally.

A Renter’s Bill of Rights – Renters around the country are insisting on more protections against landlord abuse and empowerment of renters as a class. Michigan renters need these rights and protections as much as any. A Renters Bill of Rights may include fair chance housing for returning citizens, tenants’ right to organize and have counsel, relocation assistance in case of red tagging, increased safety inspection standards, legal protection against discrimination based on housing status, just cause eviction, renter agency for repairs, a ban on hidden rental fees, and other such policies.

After listening to several tenants and community-based organizers, the several hundred strong rally participants went inside the State Capital to occupy the gallery spaces for both the State House and State Senate. In those spaces there were more speakers and chants, but a great deal of the attention was directed at the Michigan Democratic Party. The Michigan Democratic Party has made it a point to talk about how they now control the State House, the State Senate and the Governor’s office, yet there agenda since taking power in Michigan has NOT included any of the 4 demands from the statewide Rent is Too Damn High coalition. 

Now, some might argue that the $5 billion of housing investment that the Rent is Too Damn High coalition is not very practical. However, we know that the State of Michigan is providing subsidies in the amount of $1.63 Billion to Ford and GM for EV production, roughly one-third of the cost in the Rent is Too Damn High demands.

Another way of thinking about how much tax money goes to things other than housing can be found at the National Priorities Project, which provides a clear breakdown of tax money leaving each state to fund the US military Budget. For the 2023 US Military Budget, $24.07 billion of taxpayers money left Michigan to fund the US Military. This amount of taxes from Michigan that is used to fund the US military is almost 5 times the amount that the Rent is Too Damn High coalition is demanding. It’s never a question of there being enough money for important things like housing, rather it is a matter of priorities. A bloated military budget is more important that housing.

They locked the doors on us

After we occupied the Capital, those of us from Grand Rapids decided that it was probably a useful tactic to go and visit the office of the Senate Majority Leader, Winnie Brinks. 

While waiting for all of our GR people, I noticed that there were people looking through the glass window on the door for Senator Brinks’ office. At one point, someone even opened the door to peak out into the hallway. Once we had all of the GR contingent with us, we decided to that we would share some tenant stories and demand that Senator Brinks make the 4 demands an immediate priority, we decided to enter her office. When we turned the doorknob it was clear that the office was now locked. We then began to knock on the door to see if someone would come out, but still nothing. One of the State Capital security people came over and said that they could go in through a different door and see if the staff from Senator Brinks’ office would speak with us. After a few minutes, the security person returned and said that the staffers for Senator Brinks would  not speak with us, since they had spoken with two other people from Grand Rapids an hour ago. This of course was a bullshit answer, since this was a new group, which had clear demands and should have been granted access to speak with her staff. Denying her constituents the opportunity to speak with staff sends the wrong message about community engagement and embracing community-driven policy changes. This all felt very similar to an action organized by Movimiento Cosecha two years earlier.

While the experience with Senator Brinks’ staff might have left a bad taste in our mouth, most of the day was invigorating and even inspiring, particularly with the turnout and the energy that was demonstrated by those participating in the rally. Housing justice certainly requires that we radically re-imagine what a non-market housing model might look like, but it also means we have to continue to center the lived experiences of individuals and families that are exploited by landlords and property management companies. People over Profits!