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Beacon Urges a ‘Yes’ Vote on Rent Stabilization in Minneapolis and St. Paul

by Elizabeth Tannen and Emily Goldthwaite Fries

Theresa is a parishioner at St. Joan of Arc and a powerful advocate with Beacon and other organizations that work for justice. She’s also a renter, and lives on a fixed income – too much of which she must pay each month toward rent. A significant increase would put her in jeopardy of losing her home.

It’s because of people like Theresa that Beacon supports efforts in Minneapolis and St. Paul to create rent stabilization and urges a “yes” vote on both measures on this November’s ballot.

The Beacon collaborative holds the vision that all people have a home, and we have been working to achieve that vision by creating homes and advocating for bold policy changes to make rents affordable for all Minnesotans.

We are excited to join advocates, community groups, individual homeowners and renters, and other organizations in supporting rent stabilization because it is one significant way to ensure that as many people as possible in our communities can stay securely in their homes.

Rent stabilization would immediately remove the fear of rapid rent increases for Theresa and the 45% of renters in the Twin Cities who pay more of their income than they can afford toward rent. Rent Stabilization still allows rents to rise at a fair rate but makes illegal the sharper rent spikes that lead to residents being priced out of the homes and neighborhoods they love – spikes that are most often enacted by corporate, predatory landlords, not local property owners who are rooted in community. Like any single policy, rent stabilization won’t fix the crisis on its own; but it is a crucial tool to achieve our vision that will steady the surging market and alleviate pressures on people like Theresa. It’s one essential piece to keep people in their homes, and Beacon is proud to join the efforts of people in St. Paul and Minneapolis – Black, brown, and white, Asian and Indigenous – to keep our communities strong by ensuring we all have a home we can rely on.

While voters in both cities will have the opportunity to vote this November, the paths toward rent stabilization in each city are different: in St. Paul, the vote is to create a specific policy. In Minneapolis, the vote is to allow the City Council to move forward with crafting a rent stabilization policy.

Beacon is currently advocating for another important policy to ensure renters stability: Bring It Home, MN, which would guarantee rent subsidy to all who qualify. Beacon is proud to be working with 31 organizations fighting alongside Theresa to make this happen.

But the reality is that rents continue to rise, and, in some areas, the dramatic increases have far outpaced what renters and the future rent subsidy program can sustain.

As a property owner and developer, Beacon understands that running housing requires investment, and that expenses have risen for landlords as well. Most landlords balance these expenses with reasonable and fair rent increases, which rent stabilization allows. What rent stabilization prevents is a predatory landlord from taking advantage of the market to hoard profits while burdening renters with excessive rents that eventually price them out of their homes.

We see these predatory practices as part of a history and present of housing injustices that disproportionately impact BIPOC residents—a pattern that tragically deepens the racial disparities that are a core aspect of our housing crisis.

And, we see that allowing these practices to persist harms all of us: Black, brown and white, Asian, and Indigenous communities alike.

Beacon is eager to work with the broader, diverse coalitions that have come together to center people’s experiences like Theresa and advocate for ballot measures in both cities. We will discuss the ballot measure in our congregations, talk to voters, and bring our faith values, stories, and experiences to the public dialogue.

Beacon encourages Minneapolis and St. Paul voters to check “yes” to rent stabilization on election day, Tuesday, November 2, 2021. Your vote will help people like Theresa, show our politicians we know and care about the crisis renters face, and advance the need for the additional solution of rent subsidy.  

If you would like to be involved in these activities, please email one of us. In Minneapolis, contact Emily Goldthwaite Fries EGoldthwaite-Fries@beaconinterfaith.org. In St. Paul, contact Elizabeth Tannen ETannen@beaconinterfaith.org

Learn more about the ballot measures in both cities and why our faith values guide us in supporting them at our Rent Stabilization Forum on October 5. RSVP today!