Gov. Sisolak and Rep. Horsford Push for Rent Control

Flanked by red-clad Culinary Union activists, Governor Steve Sisolak, Rep. Steven Horsford (CD-4) and Commissioner Tick Segerblom made a campaign stop at a union rally in order to show their support for rent control. They uniformly blamed rising housing costs on “greedy” commercial landlords.

Sisolak announced his attendance on Twitter:

We all know housing prices are out of control right now.
That’s why I’m proud to join @Culinary226 in our fight to ensure our communities remain affordable and that home means Nevada for everyone. pic.twitter.com/6iJmyS5NpF

— Steve Sisolak (@SteveSisolak) June 30, 2022

In a report from The Las Vegas Review Journal:

More than 100 Culinary Workers Union Local 226 members, all wearing red, gathered at the front of North Las Vegas City Hall on Thursday to submit signatures to put a rent control measure on the ballot in November.

Union members and leaders were joined by Gov. Steve Sisolak, Congressman Steven Horsford and Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom.

The ballot measure would tie maximum rent increases in North Las Vegas to the consumer price index, or 5 percent annually, whichever is lower. The consumer price index is a government indicator for how much the costs of basic goods have changed over time.

Speakers mostly blamed rising housing costs on commercial landlords, who buy up large numbers of property to rent.

Horsford said he will introduce a measure in Congress to target landlords who price gouge with rent at the end of the July 4 recess.

Horsford announced he is drafting legislation to empower the Department of Housing and Urban Development to target corporate landlords who are targeting minority households:

“What is my bill going to do? It’s going to hold those out-of-state corporate landlords accountable for gouging my constituents.It’s going to make sure that we empower the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to go after these price gougers to get the evidence to show that they are targeting Black, Latino and single family neighborhoods because they care more about their profits than the people in our neighborhoods.”

Sisolak announced that he and his legal team are assessing options to address the greed of corporate landlords and took a swipe at his GOP challenger Clark County Sheriff  Joe Lombardo:

“Our state in the last couple of years has faced unprecedented growth in out-of-state speculators coming in and buying up homes in our neighborhoods, and raising the rent. They’re not investing in our community. They’re taking money out of our community back to their corporate headquarters and not supporting the citizens. My opponent, Joe Lombardo, is supported by the elite out-of-state landlords that are fighting a dark money campaign trying to buy up homes, and we can’t afford that type of development.

My legal team is looking at what’s been done across the country, whether there can be assessment against corporate landlords. And they’re buying these homes with tax abatements on all the properties as well, which is reducing property taxes which is reducing our funding for schools. So we need to have everything on the table when it comes to addressing the greed of corporate landlords.”

Lombardo campaign spokeswoman Elizabeth Ray noted that Sisolak’s campaign is no stranger to dark money, nicknaming the governor as “Shady Steve.”

“Steve Sisolak just can’t make up allegations and assign blame for his own failures to Joe Lombardo. But it’s funny, did Shady Steve happen to mention the millions in dark money that the Democratic Governors Association spent against the Sheriff in the Republican primary? Or the hundreds of thousands in unreported money that (Democratic Assemblywoman) Sandra Jauregui’s partner spent against the Sheriff in the Patriot Freedom Fund PAC? Did he open the books on Home Means Nevada PAC? Even before his Northshore COVID-19 testing scandal, Steve Sisolak was the least ethical governor in Nevada history, Nevadans are sick and tired of his lies, corruption, and pay-to-play politics at their expense.”