Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate leaders say rent-stabilization bill will focus on a 7% year-over-year cap as negotiations continue
Summary
Senate speakers told reporters they narrowed the House bill to a central rent cap — a year-over-year limit of 7% — removing move-in and late-fee provisions to focus debate and build support; leaders said caucus math still requires negotiation to reach 25 votes in the Senate.
A questioner asked why the version that passed the House removed several tenant protections. Speaker 8 explained the caucus "made the decision to focus the bill on the central policy, which is the year over year cap in rent increases ... at 7 percent," and that provisions on move-in and late fees were removed to focus debate and lower the bill's political temperature.
Speaker 1 said she expects more work to get to a bill with majority support in the Senate and listed colleagues she is working with on the process. She described several adjustable policy elements (exemption periods, the percentage cap, and a so-called "banked capacity" mechanism allowing landlords to reserve unused increase capacity for later use after capital expenses). "In some ways, we have 18 members of the caucus who are cosponsors of the bill, and so you need 7 more," she said.
What happens next: leaders said they will continue negotiations within the caucus to reconcile different preferences and aim to secure the votes needed to pass a version of the rent-stabilization bill. The press conference did not report a final Senate vote.
