CWA 1180 - Political Action

Rent regulation campaign pushes on
August 2002

So far this year, tenant advocates and allies have failed in their effort to get the state legislature to renew the rent regulation laws and to repeal vacancy decontrol. The Rent 2002 campaign, which Local 1180 actively participated in, aimed to pass these critical tenant bills this year, in a state election year, rather than wait until next year, when the laws actually expire. The reason is that rent regulation is popular, and Rent 2002 organizers figured that Albany politicians would not dare weaken the laws in a year when they had to face voters. (For background on the bills and the issues, click here.)

Bills renewing the rent control and rent stabilization laws and repealing vacancy decontrol passed the Democratic controlled State Assembly in May, but failed to move in the Republican State Senate. The inaction on the Senate side is largely Governor Pataki's fault, as the Republican chamber generally follows his cues. By having the bills stalled in the Senate, Pataki neither had to sign them—infuriating his wealthy donor base—nor veto them—incurring the wrath of voters. Voters, however, should not forget that the end result was the same as a veto.

There is still a chance to pass the legislation this year and make Pataki sign it. It would require a special legislative session in the fall, and enough pressure from voters to force the legislature and governor to act. The Senate and particularly the governor failed to support the bills earlier this year ultimately because they did not feel enough heat from constituents. The Rent 2002 campaign tried to generate that heat, but was unable to. The effort to get thousands and thousands of tenants to hang the "Stronger Rent Laws Now" posters was a difficult challenge and few very of the posters actually went up. Groups involved in the campaign did not make a big enough effort to really get their members to distribute the posters, and those people that did go door to door (including some 1180 members) to try to get their neighbors to hang them encountered a variety of obstacles.

Albany has always been somewhere between indifferent and hostile to New York City's needs. This year, despite some rhetoric after 9-11, has been no different. State inaction on numerous fronts hurt the city—from the failure to reinstate the commuter tax to the refusal to extend unemployment benefits to the unwillingness to commit money to rebuilding the city. The failure to act on rent regulation fits that pattern. And it will take New York City voters raising much more hell to get them to act.

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