State Legislators are dragging their feet on adopting demands of the Rent is Too Damn High Coalition

People may remember that in early September there was a sizable rally at the Lansing State Capitol, organized by the coalition know as The Rent is Too Damn High!. GRIID attended that rally and wrote about it.

At the September 5th rally there were four overall demands by the housing justice coalition, which included:

• Rent Control – Remove the state-wide ban on rent control so municipalities can take action to stabilize rents and protect tenants. 
• Social Housing – $4 billion for social housing in FY25 state budget. 
• Housing First – $1 billion for people experiencing and at risk of homelessness in FY25 state budget. 
• 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

Ten days after the rally, there was legislation proposed to undo the existing state ban on rent control. The proposed legislation was introduced by Rep. Carrie Rheingans, known as HB 4947, which GRIID also wrote about.

Since mid September, people from the statewide Rent is Too Damn High coalition have been pressuring elected officials, both in their respective communities and by attending Committee meetings in Lansing. Unfortunately, the Housing committee meeting in the House of Representatives, has been cancelled for the third time in the past 6 weeks. previously. At this rate, the legislature might not achieve much of anything this year to help renters, despite the worsening cost-of-living crisis that we are all facing. This is because it is unlikely that any action will be taken after the Thanksgiving break and possibly even the week before, meaning that there are only a few weeks for committee meetings that could move proposed legislation on renters rights and rent control to be adopted immediately. 

We have also heard that there are two Democrats in the State House that are on the ballot for November 7, running for local Mayoral seats. If they both win, there will be 2 less Democrats in the State House, thus removing the slim majority they currently hold. Next year, in 2024, it is an election year and State Legislators who are hoping to get re-elected will spent more time on their campaigns than they will making policy changes that the public wants to see happen, especially around issues like housing. 

Therefore, the Rent is Too Damn High coalition is calling on people to contact the two representatives listed below, to insist that the Housing committee do its job and push through renters right, rent control bills before the House adjourns.

Committee Chair, Representative Kevin Coleman: (517) 373-2275

House Speaker, Representative Joe Tate: (517) 373-0857

Demand that they do the following three things:

1. Pass the Homeless Bill of Rights (HB 4919) through committee and through the full chamber

2. Pass the Fair Chance Access to Housing Act (HB 4878) through committee and through the full chamber

3. Hold a committee hearing on the Rent Control Preemption Repeal (HB 4947) 

There is also an Action Alert that people can sign onto, which will send messages to the State Representative for your area. Just click on this link to send that Action Alert.

However, even if the state efforts to win Rent Control won’t happen through legislation, that doesn’t mean we can’t be working on Rent Control right now on a local level. Rent control campaigns have been won by getting tenants from specific Landlords or Property Management Companies, when tenants are organized. 

What a landlord/Property Management Company rent control campaign would look like, is to organize tenants in a particular community who all rent from the same landlord or Property Management Company. If we begin to identify Landlords and Property Management Companies that own multiple properties, we could also connect with other communities in the state to see if these same Landlords and Property Management Companies have tenants in their cities. Building a statewide movement for rent control could also happen like this. 

In fact, no tenant movement should put all their eggs in the basket of getting governments to adopt rent control, since we can do the work directly in our own communities right now. We can work on a rent control strategy that is 2 pronged, both government and landlord/Property Management Company as targets. Plus, the advantage of targeting Landlords and Property Management Companies is that you can demand more than just rent control, thus tackling multiple demands that would make any tenant movement more robust. 

If you are a renter and this is something that you want to be involved in, then please contact the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union by sending an e-mail to gratunion@gmail.com or leaving a message on their Facebook page.