Now we organize to win the solutions renters deserve
At Wednesday’s State of the State address, Governor Whitmer unveiled her housing agenda for the next year, stating “The rent is too damn high and we don’t have enough damn housing.” The. Rent. Is. Too. Damn. High.
We did that! Every member of this coalition, everybody who joined us at the capitol last September, every renter across the state organizing for a better housing system. From Lake Superior to Lake Erie, whether you’re black, white or brown, from a big city or a small town, you already know the story — the rent is too damn high, and something needs to be done about it.
Governor Whitmer’s comments prove that we are being heard, but more has to be done. It’s time the state’s housing policy puts renters first rather than landlords.
Here’s the truth: Behind the headlines, the Governor’s housing plan is mostly more of the same. It relies on huge giveaways to corporate landlords to build more housing. Landlords are sitting at the table to make these policies; organized renters are not. A small increase in affordable housing is a step to relieve the pain for some, but the rent is going to stay too damn high until we change the power relations at the heart of our housing system. That’s why we’re organizing to build power and demanding the solutions that renters deserve.
We continue to demand an end to the statewide ban on rent control, so cities can regulate this predatory system that allows landlords to increase our rents.
We continue to organize for a renters bill of rights, to stop landlords who slap unnecessary fees on us, refuse to rent to us because of our history, and evict us on a whim.
We also demand that Whitmer’s historic investments go to social housing: mixed-income housing that is owned by the public, rather than corporate landlords. Unlike the private rental market, a social housing program could deliver true housing security and permanent affordability to the millions of renters in our state. It is time that our housing system breaks down inequalities rather than create them.
We envision a new housing system that truly upholds housing as a human right, rather than something to be bought and sold by billionaires. It’s time that our lawmakers and their policies reflect this vision.
Here’s what I need you to do right now:
- Please share this social post with our response to the Governor: on Instagram, or on Facebook.
- And forward this email to a friend and have them sign up for updates to organize with us in 2024.
If you know the rent is too damn high, and you share this vision for a better housing system, join us. Let’s fight together for a better world where we, not the landlord class, are in control of our own housing.
Onwards,
Jesse with the Rent Is Too Damn High coalition