Senate votes to hurt struggling renters

By Oregon Senate Republican Office,

SALEM, Ore. – Yesterday, Senate Democrats voted to drive multifamily housing investors out of Oregon and exacerbate the housing crisis by passing Senate Bill 611 B, limiting yearly rent increases to 10%.

“The San Francisco Solution, also known as Senate Bill 611, is nothing more than a case of misplaced compassion and a talking point that lacks all logic and reality. It will force landlords to increase rent to the maximum cap while limiting new production, hurting the very people proponents say the bill will help. SB 611 will assuredly drive investors out of Oregon’s housing market to other states where their money is at less risk.

“Decades of total Democrat control has resulted in bad land use policy that has kept investors from building necessary units to keep up with demand. Now we have reached a major crisis point. What we should have done was work on supply years ago. If we don’t balance the supply market, we will never climb out of the crisis we face,” said Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp (R-Bend).

“Where are the highest rent prices in the United States? New York City. Who has the most rent control in the United States? New York City. Basic economics tells us that rent controls don’t work and we have seen the proof. As a landlord of several multifamily units myself, I can tell you this: I will have to sell them off one by one and move my investments to another state. Let’s be reasonable as to how we approach the housing crisis. Going after landlords is not the answer,” said Senator Fred Girod (R-Lyons).

“A couple of years ago, Democrats passed a 14% statewide rent control cap. Now, they are coming back with a 10% cap. If someone can’t afford a 14% rent increase, it’s unlikely that they can take on a 10% increase either. Renters need 2, 3, 4, 5 options of places to go so landlords can’t raise rent or the renter will leave. Why double down on a policy that has already failed? Why would somebody choose to invest in Oregon when lawmakers in power have engaged in a dangerous pattern of making it harder to thrive? Right now, renters don’t have options, but investors do. They don’t have to choose Oregon. By passing the San Francisco Solution, the message Democrats sent to investors is this: Do not invest in multifamily housing here,” added Knopp.