Spring, 2019

Wednesday, March 27th was a big day in Springfield for those of us who have been following the rent control saga over the past number of months. No fewer than three rent control bills were vying with each other for consideration by the commercial law subcommittee of the Judiciary – Civil committee in the Illinois General Assembly.

Spring, 2019

There has been no lack of legislative initiatives in Springfield lately to preserve and expand the supply of affordable housing in Illinois. Unfortunately, several of these legislative initiatives focus on Rent Control as a cure-all to the region’s affordable housing woes. The Rogers Park Builders Group firmly opposes any effort to adopt rent control in the state. RPBG believes that, far from solving our affordable housing problems, rent control will only make them worse with considerable collateral damage to our livelihoods and the wider economies of the city, region and state.

By:

Doug Imber
Spring 2019

As widely reported, the efforts in Springfield to lift the State ban on rent control were recently defeated. While it was determined that rent control is not a practical solution, the affordable housing problem nevertheless remains. So, rather than focusing on what doesn’t work, we must now ask ourselves if there are other solutions that can work to correct this problem. In fact, there is one very cost effective and readily available alternative that is gaining grass roots support and that affordable housing advocates, apartment building owners and city officials can all support.

Winter, 2019

Michael Kardas, Kardas Photography, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A careful read of State Representative Mary E. Flowers’ proposed Rent Control Act (a/k/a House Bill 2192) is an eye-opener. A highly similar version of this bill was circulated in 2018 by State Senator Mattie Hunter as Senate Bill 3512. Both Representative Flowers and Senator Hunter are Democrats representing areas predominantly located on the South Side of Chicago and in the South and Southwest suburbs. As of the writing of this article, hearings on the proposed bill are scheduled for Thursday, February 14. This is a developing story. The Newsletter will keep a close eye on how this bill fares. Updates in future Newsletters are a certainty.

Fall, 2018

Joe Moore, Alderman of Chicago's 49th Ward

In an email to constituents, sent October 25, Alderman Moore recommended a “yes” vote on the advisory referendum to lift the state ban on local rent control measures. This recommendation is consistent with the Alderman’s stated position at the September meeting of the Rogers Park Builders Group.

This video provides a good overview of the arguments against rent control. As numerous studies have shown, there are few winners and many losers when rent control becomes law. This video helps explains the harmful impacts of rent control on low and moderate income families, the very group these policies are intended to benefit.