HARTFORD, Conn. — After weeks of discussions and several hours-long public hearings, the state's Housing Committee has decided to not have a committee vote for House Bill 6588, which would have capped rent increases. Instead, the committee is establishing task forces to look into housing issues in the state.
"We need to really take a deep dive into this and make sure that we’re doing something that’s fair and equitable for both sides," said State Sen. Marilyn Moore, co-chair of the Housing Committee, during its meeting on Tuesday.
"This is a way in which we can bring everyone together and come up with a solution and I’m very much looking forward to what this study finds," said State Rep. Joe Polletta, a republican member of the committee.
If the bill had passed all the way through state legislators this session, it would have capped annual rent increases at 4%.
Advocates for the bill said it would have helped alleviate the housing crisis Connecticut is facing.
"The decision not to put rent stabilization to a vote means it will not go before the General Assembly this session, and Connecticut renters are not likely to see relief this year from skyrocketing rents," Cap the Rent CT said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
The organization said tenants are seeing rent increases of up to 30% or 40%.
"We’re going to keep fighting but this is just like one set back in an overall fight that we know that the tide of the movement is on our side," said Stefan Keller, with Make The Road CT.
The Housing Committee's agenda for Tuesday's meeting included plans to establish task forces to "study the effects of evictions on landlords and rent stabilization policies."
"We don’t need another task force to study our communities’ suffering and pain—we need relief now," Cap the Rent CT added.
"For a lot of them this rent increase could mean they are not able to live in the places their kids are going to school. This could mean not living close to where they have a job," Keller said. "Some folks may become homeless. That’s a very real thing that may happen. We saw homelessness increase in 2022 in Connecticut for the first time in several years," he said.
Many landlords spoke out against the legislation, arguing they are also struggling with rising costs.
"Landlords are just trying to keep up. We’re not trying to get rich. We’re just trying to keep up with these costs of inflation," said Rick Bush, president of the CT Association of Real Estate Investors.
They’re hopeful the task force will help find different ways to address housing issues.
"If you want lower rent prices, enable developers to build more housing for less money. The problem is there’s not enough housing," Bush said.
In a statement, State Rep. Geoff Luxenberg, co-chair of the Housing Committee said:
“Connecticut families feel economic pain as the housing affordability crisis heavily weighs on them. The votes needed for passage of rent stabilization legislation weren’t there, but we heard people loud and clear during two marathon public hearings, which lasted through the night. It remains to be seen whether this well-intentioned policy idea can deliver the practical relief it seeks to provide. In the meantime, we are working hard in a bipartisan fashion to produce more affordable housing, drive down housing costs, eliminate real barriers to quality affordable housing, strengthen our nation-leading tenant protections, penalize slum lords more harshly and invest more funding in rental assistance programs and services to prevent and address homelessness. I am incredibly proud of the work we did on the Housing Committee this session. We attempted to tackle a large number of high-profile issues in a way that makes a real difference.”
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