Sen. Winnie Brinks claims that Democrats are fighting for housing justice, when in fact they are putting more money in the hands of developers

For several years now GRIID has been looking at the housing issue in Grand Rapids, Kent County and in Michigan. I have been arguing that the market-based policies for housing, even so-called affordable housing are false solutions.

On Wednesday, Michigan State Senator Winnie Brinks posted the following statement on her Facebook page:

Since day one, Michigan Senate Democrats have been tackling the housing crisis head-on — investing record state funding in affordable housing projects, expanding the brownfield redevelopment program, and now creating the Michigan Housing Opportunity Credit and banning large corporate investors from buying up single family homes. Together, our efforts will bring more homes, more opportunity, and more stability to Michigan families for generations to come.

I want to take issue with Senator Brinks on this statement, but first I want to say something about the picture above, which was included in her Facebook post from Wednesday, July 22nd. Gov. Whitmer is signing the transformational brownfield plan program that provides tax incentives for developers. This program did provide $1.6 billion for developers, but that amount has been doubled to $3.2 billion. Signing this bill will green light the DeVos/Van Andel Three Towers project, which will provide $565 million in public subsidies for the billionaire families.

Also included in the picture – on the far right – is Josh Lunger, the governmental affairs staff for the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. Lunger was behind the push to criminalize the unhoused in Grand Rapids and plays a major role in pushing pro-Chamber of Commerce policies at the state level.

As for the claims made by Senator Brinks, we should not be fooled by the wording, such as affordable housing, banning large corporate investors from buying up single family home, and more stability to Michigan families for generations to come. None of these things are true. First, the state investment for affordable hosing is for developers, not for working class families who can’t afford housing in Michigan. Second, the Governor signing the transformational brownfield plan program benefits large projects like the DeVos/Van Andel Three Towers project, not families who are housing insecure.

Third, on the matter of banning large corporate investors from buying up single family home, this simply isn’t true. House Bill 6074 defines a large institutional investor as an investment fund, corporation, general or limited partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, association or other for-profit entity that directly or indirectly has investment control of more than 100 single-family homes in the state and manages or has a net value of $375 million or more. So, a large investor, corporation or LLC could continue to own up to 100 single family homes. However, if the large investor, corporation or LLC would add new housing stock, substantially rehabilitate an existing home or is part of a program to create a pathway to ownership for a renter, then the cap on controlling 100 single family homes doesn’t apply. The House version of this bill passed with a vote of 102-3 in favor. Thus the language Senator Brinks uses is misleading.

Fourth, when Sen. Brinks says that Michigan Democrats have been tackling the housing crisis head-on, this is also a false statement. When Michigan Democrats had the trifecta of Governor, State Senate and State House, they failed to adopt numerous hosing policies that would benefit working class families, policies that the statewide coalition known as the Rent is Too Damn High were pushing in 2024. See list of bills above. It is also worth noting that this list does not include Rent Control, which tenants have been fight to win for years. 

The Grand Rapids AreaTenant Union presented the list of renter rights bill to Senator Brinks at her home in November of 2024, yet as the Senate Majority leader she failed to get most of these bills passed.

Lastly, it is worth noting that Michigan Democrats have failed to make the minimum wage $25, which would give people a chance to afford the cost of rent in Michigan. The current minimum wage in Michigan is a paltry $13.73 per hour. Michigan Democrats do not fight for working families in Michigan.