Having passed one of the strongest rent stabilization policies around, we know that those of us who rent our homes, as well as the renting majority of our neighbors, can more easily root ourselves in our communities and plan for a future in the city we love. This historic policy will limit all residential rent increases to less than 3% per year regardless of a change in occupancy.
This well-run, successful campaign was only possible because of Housing Equity Now and all our other coalition partners. And a big thanks to our own members for the work we put in collecting signatures, training volunteers, hosting events, calling our base, phone banking to get out the vote, and showing up ourselves to vote yes!
Housing justice is racial justice. In St. Paul 39% of white residents are renters compared to 82% of Black residents, 64% of Native residents, 62% of Latino residents, and 58% of Asian residents. Rent stabilization is a step towards ending the predatory practices of landlords and developers that disproportionately harm households of color.
As popular as this policy is, it took months of dedicated organizing and coalition-building to overcome all the obstacles in the way: systemic barriers to voting facing the most marginalized members of our community, the ($4 million!) deep pockets of the landlord lobby, and the far reach of market-solution ideologues.
This victory is an example of what happens when St. Paulites stand up for each other against business interests that would exploit us and our neighbors for profit. We are glad to have played our part in this hard-fought struggle for a policy which will strengthen our community ties and build towards a more equitable economy in the city we call home.