Newest Twist on Rent Control
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Falling neatly into the category of “can’t take no for an answer,” the Progressive / Democratic Socialist wing of the Democratic Party in Illinois is, once again, looking for ways to get around the state’s ban on rent control. Having tried to do this directly every year since 2017 – and having failed each time – this group of radical lawmakers has now come up with a novel new way of achieving their objective.
Newly-elected Representative Hoan Huynh (pronounced Hahn Win), who won his 13th District seat in 2022 and first took office in January 2023, has proposed HB 4104 – referred to as the “Let the People Lift the Ban” Act.
This bill takes a novel approach to the vexing problem of how to get rid of the state’s ban on rent control. If passed, it would allow municipalities in Illinois to unilaterally declare that the state-wide rent control ban does not apply to them, so long as a majority of the citizens of that municipality vote to do so.
If passed, [HB 4104] would allow municipalities in Illinois to unilaterally declare that the state-wide rent control ban does not apply to them.
To state the obvious, the constitutionality of a municipality rejecting a state law is untested. In the United States, federal law take precedence over state law which takes precedence over local law. The HB 4104 proposal is akin to the state of Texas telling the federal government that it can enact its own immigration policies in violation of federal law. A confrontation in court seems like a foregone conclusion if this measure advances.
Proponents of this bill might cite Home Rule as a reason municipalities can go their own way in matters such as rent control. However, Home Rule was never intended to exempt municipalities from state law – it was simply a mechanism to give certain powers to “home rule” entities, expressly permitted under state laws.
Representative Huynh has an interesting background and an impressive resume. He also represents an area of the state that is a long-time Democratic stronghold – parts of Uptown, Andersonville, Lincoln Square and other neighborhoods along and just west of Chicago’s North Lakefront.
Mr. Huynh’s election victory is certainly good for diversity and inclusion in the Illinois General Assembly. Unfortunately, it is bad for common sense and the housing industry.
Representative Huynh was born in Vietnam in 1989 but was brought to the United States with his family when they received permission to resettle here as refugees. His father had fought for the South Vietnamese in the Vietnamese War. Having been on the losing side of the conflict, the family had long sought to get out of Vietnam and move to the United States.
Representative Huynh thrived in this country, getting his undergraduate degree at Yale and his Master’s Degree at Harvard. He decided to run for the Illinois General Assembly as a relative unknown, winning a race with better-known and better funded competitors. He took office in January 2023 and is the first refugee and Vietnamese American to be elected to public office in the state.
Mr. Huynh’s election victory is certainly good for diversity and inclusion in the Illinois General Assembly. Unfortunately, it is bad for common sense and the housing industry. As HB 4104 demonstrates, he is wasting no time in establishing his Progressive bona fides and is just the latest Representative to join the Progressive / Democratic Socialist push to get rid of (or otherwise work around) the state’s ban on rent control.
Clearly, the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party is not giving up on their objective to bring rent control to Illinois.
For now, HB 4104 is more of a trial balloon that a serious effort to ban the ban. According to Crain’s Chicago Business “Daily Gist” podcast (August 31, 2023), the bill is not yet in committee and there is no indication of when or if this proposed legislation will be taken up by this legislative body. If anything, this effort could best be described as something of a “Hail Mary” with serious questions about its enforceability and its legality.
But the fact that it is out there sends a strong message that the pro-rent control forces will not go quietly into the night and that their efforts to undo the ban are far from over. Clearly, the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party is not giving up on their objective to bring rent control to Illinois. Equally clearly, this faction has found a potent message as its membership expands with each new election cycle.
