St. Paul’s mayor is already scrambling to amend the city’s harmful rent control law

FEE’s Jon Miltimore writes, “St. Paul’s new rent control law is off to a bumpy start, six months before it even goes into effect.

In November, Minnesota’s capital narrowly approved a measure that limits landlords’ ability to increase rental payments on its 65,000+ properties, capping increases at 3 percent annually. The measure will go into effect May 1, 2022.

The Democratic mayor of Minnesota's capital is fighting to undermine the rent control measure the city just passed. He's right to do so. Basic economics teaches us that the solution to high demand is more supply, not price controls.https://t.co/avFuczYySE

— Jon Miltimore (@miltimore79) December 6, 2021

As FEE’s Brad Polumbo noted when the law was first approved, this makes St. Paul’s rent control policy 'one of the strictest in the US—if not the world.' Unlike many rent control laws, the provision was not indexed to inflation (which currently is substantially higher than 3 percent) and it applies to new developments, not just existing properties.

The latter provision has St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter already seeking an off-ramp—or at least a partial one. Carter, a first-term Democrat, has said he’s exploring ways to alter the rent control provision to exempt new developments, noting the policy could discourage new housing construction in the city.”

Read the entire column.