Latest news with #Democratic-led
2 days ago
- Business
Colorado's governor vetoes landmark ban on rent-setting algorithms
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has vetoed a bill that would have made Colorado the first state to ban landlords from using rent-setting algorithms, which many advocates have blamed for driving up housing costs across the country. RealPage is the target of a federal lawsuit filed last year that accuses the real estate software company of facilitating an illegal scheme to help landlords coordinate to hike rental prices. Eight other states, including Colorado, have joined the Department of Justice's lawsuit, though RealPage has vehemently denied any claims of collusion and has fought to have the lawsuit dismissed. Critics say RealPage software combines confidential information from each real estate management company in ways that enable landlords to align prices and avoid competition that would otherwise push down rents. RealPage's clients include huge landlords who collectively oversee millions of units across the U.S. The Colorado bill, which recently passed the Democratic-led Legislature along party lines, would have prevented the use of such algorithms. In a veto letter Thursday, Polis said he understands the intent of the bill but that any collusion among landlords would already violate existing law. 'Reducing market friction through legitimate means that do not entail collusion is good for both renters and landlords,' Polis wrote. 'We should not inadvertently take a tool off the table that could identify vacancies and provide consumers with meaningful data to help efficiently manage residential real estate to ensure people can access housing.' In a statement, RealPage applauded Polis' veto, calling it an example of 'courageous leadership.' 'This is the right outcome for all of us who desire a healthy housing ecosystem that benefits Colorado renters and housing providers alike,' said Jennifer Bowcock, a spokesperson for the Texas-based firm. But Polis' decision outraged local housing advocates and the American Economic Liberties Project, a consumer rights advocacy group that has helped lead the fight against RealPage and other companies that use rent-setting algorithms. 'This veto sends the devastating message that corporate landlords can keep using secret price-fixing algorithms to take extra rent from people who have the least,' said Sam Gilman, co-founder and president of the Community Economic Defense Project, a Colorado-based nonprofit. RealPage software provides daily recommendations to help landlords and their employees price their available apartments. The landlords do not have to follow the suggestions, but critics argue that because the software has access to a vast trove of confidential data, it helps RealPage's clients charge the highest possible rent. Although Colorado was the first state to pass a bill targeting rental algorithms, at least six cities have passed similar ordinances over the past year. They include Philadelphia; Minneapolis; San Francisco; Berkeley, California; Jersey City, New Jersey; and Providence, Rhode Island. RealPage has decried those measures and sued over Berkeley's ordinance, saying it violates the company's free speech rights and is the result of an 'intentional campaign of misinformation and often-repeated false claims' about its products. RealPage argues that the real driver of high rents is a lack of housing supply. It also says that its pricing recommendations often encourage landlords to drop rents since landlords are incentivized to maximize revenue and maintain high occupancy. A clause recently added to Republicans' signature ' big, beautiful ' tax bill would ban states and localities from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade. On Tuesday, five Democratic senators sent a letter to RealPage asking if the company was involved in getting that clause inserted.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Brinks says passing road funding and public safety trust fund will take conversations and compromise
Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, participates in a PAC reception during the third day of the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich., on May 29, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) MACKINAC ISLAND – With a little over a month until the July 1 deadline, Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) told the Michigan Advance she has concerns about whether the Legislature would be able to pass the state's budget for Fiscal Year 2026 before the end of June. 'We're at the stage where we need to negotiate the differences between a House budget and a Senate budget, and the House has not passed what you can reasonably or meaningfully call a budget that we can even negotiate from. So they're pretty far behind in the process. And so that gives me pause about that deadline,' Brinks said. Michigan House Republicans took control of the chamber in the 2024 election, winning a 58-52 majority and bringing an end to Democrats' trifecta control of the House, Senate and governor's seat. As a result, the Legislature has deadlocked, passing only four bills since the start of the year. Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) has repeatedly refused to commit to meeting the July 1 deadline, when lawmakers are legally required to pass a budget. However, the state's fiscal year does not start until Oct. 1, with Hall telling reporters in January that the budget may not be done until Sept. 30. A failure to have a budget in place by the Oct. 1 deadline would force a state government shutdown. As Democrats raise alarms about the potential for a shutdown, House Republicans have passed what they call a 'shutdown prevention plan' which allocates $20 billion for critical programs like schools and local law enforcement if the Legislature cannot reach an agreement by the end of September. While there is no penalty if lawmakers fail to agree on a new budget by July 1, Brinks noted in an interview with the Advance during the Mackinac Policy Conference that completing the budget on time is critical for municipalities, K-12 schools and universities. 'They're all making their plans right now for how they expend resources and serve their folks that they serve. I don't want to show up at my kid's school and find out that they didn't know enough about the resources they have coming from the state to be able to hire enough teachers to teach the kids and have larger class sizes. That's a completely unnecessary thing, and it's completely avoidable,' Brinks said. And while Hall has slammed the Democratic-led Senate for failing to act on bipartisan road funding legislation and policies establishing a public safety and violence prevention fund to support local law enforcement and community violence intervention organizations, Brinks said those conversations need to be held in the context of the state's budget. 'You know something like the public safety trust fund, while there's a policy element to it, it's essentially a budget conversation. So get back in the room and have a budget conversation. I know our appropriations chairs have had some conversation, but there's so much more to the process…. This is exactly the kind of thing that could be worked out in a budget process, and there will, by necessity, need to be compromise,' Brinks said. Similarly, allocating $3 billion towards road funding should also be subject to bipartisan discussion, Brinks said. 'So far, there hasn't been a lot of willingness to actually have those conversations between us from Matt Hall, and so, you know, at that point, they're simply just ideas that have been thrown out in the ether. The real work comes in the conversation, in the negotiation, in the sitting down and hashing things out,' Brinks said. 'It's not glamorous, right? You don't get to start in your own press conference for two hours as a negotiation. That's not negotiating. If he wants to do that, that's fine. But in addition to that, he's going to have to really find some time or empower his caucus, and there are some capable people there to sit down and really, do that work,' Brinks said. While the House and Senate were able to break through their deadlock earlier this month to extend the filing deadline for lawmakers' legally-required financial disclosures amid frustrations with the rollout of the state's new financial reporting system, Brinks said there are several other policies they could be working on if Hall was interested. 'We could be talking about prescription drug affordability. We could be talking about ways to ensure, you know, we have more affordable housing, we could, you know, be talking about FOIA, you know, something that passed with a really strong bipartisan vote,' Brinks said. In January, members of the Senate voted 33-2 to advance Senate Bills 1 and 2 to the House. The package looks to extend FOIA to include the Legislature, the governor and the lieutenant governor, which are exempt under the current state law. However, Hall has declared the package dead, calling them 'a very low priority.' While Hall has pointed to the public safety trust fund as a bipartisan slam dunk, Brinks said the same about FOIA reform. 'It could be an easy bipartisan win that really helps improve transparency and the ethical environment in our state,' she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
The Hill
3 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Colorado's governor vetoes landmark ban on rent-setting algorithms
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has vetoed a bill that would have made Colorado the first state to ban landlords from using rent-setting algorithms, which many advocates have blamed for driving up housing costs across the country. RealPage is the target of a federal lawsuit filed last year that accuses the real estate software company of facilitating an illegal scheme to help landlords coordinate to hike rental prices. Eight other states, including Colorado, have joined the Department of Justice's lawsuit, though RealPage has vehemently denied any claims of collusion and has fought to have the lawsuit dismissed. Critics say RealPage software combines confidential information from each real estate management company in ways that enable landlords to align prices and avoid competition that would otherwise push down rents. RealPage's clients include huge landlords who collectively oversee millions of units across the U.S. The Colorado bill, which recently passed the Democratic-led Legislature along party lines, would have prevented the use of such algorithms. In a veto letter Thursday, Polis said he understands the intent of the bill but that any collusion among landlords would already violate existing law. 'Reducing market friction through legitimate means that do not entail collusion is good for both renters and landlords,' Polis wrote. 'We should not inadvertently take a tool off the table that could identify vacancies and provide consumers with meaningful data to help efficiently manage residential real estate to ensure people can access housing.' In a statement, RealPage applauded Polis' veto, calling it an example of 'courageous leadership.' 'This is the right outcome for all of us who desire a healthy housing ecosystem that benefits Colorado renters and housing providers alike,' said Jennifer Bowcock, a spokesperson for the Texas-based firm. But Polis' decision outraged local housing advocates and the American Economic Liberties Project, a consumer rights advocacy group that has helped lead the fight against RealPage and other companies that use rent-setting algorithms. 'This veto sends the devastating message that corporate landlords can keep using secret price-fixing algorithms to take extra rent from people who have the least,' said Sam Gilman, co-founder and president of the Community Economic Defense Project, a Colorado-based nonprofit. RealPage software provides daily recommendations to help landlords and their employees price their available apartments. The landlords do not have to follow the suggestions, but critics argue that because the software has access to a vast trove of confidential data, it helps RealPage's clients charge the highest possible rent. Although Colorado was the first state to pass a bill targeting rental algorithms, at least six cities have passed similar ordinances over the past year. They include Philadelphia; Minneapolis; San Francisco; Berkeley, California; Jersey City, New Jersey; and Providence, Rhode Island. RealPage has decried those measures and sued over Berkeley's ordinance, saying it violates the company's free speech rights and is the result of an 'intentional campaign of misinformation and often-repeated false claims' about its products. RealPage argues that the real driver of high rents is a lack of housing supply. It also says that its pricing recommendations often encourage landlords to drop rents since landlords are incentivized to maximize revenue and maintain high occupancy. A clause recently added to Republicans' signature ' big, beautiful ' tax bill would ban states and localities from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade. On Tuesday, five Democratic senators sent a letter to RealPage asking if the company was involved in getting that clause inserted. RealPage did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the letter.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Colorado's governor vetoes landmark ban on rent-setting algorithms
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has vetoed a bill that would have made Colorado the first state to ban landlords from using rent-setting algorithms, which many advocates have blamed for driving up housing costs across the country. RealPage is the target of a federal lawsuit filed last year that accuses the real estate software company of facilitating an illegal scheme to help landlords coordinate to hike rental prices. Eight other states, including Colorado, have joined the Department of Justice's lawsuit, though RealPage has vehemently denied any claims of collusion and has fought to have the lawsuit dismissed. Critics say RealPage software combines confidential information from each real estate management company in ways that enable landlords to align prices and avoid competition that would otherwise push down rents. RealPage's clients include huge landlords who collectively oversee millions of units across the U.S. The Colorado bill, which recently passed the Democratic-led Legislature along party lines, would have prevented the use of such algorithms. In a veto letter Thursday, Polis said he understands the intent of the bill but that any collusion among landlords would already violate existing law. 'Reducing market friction through legitimate means that do not entail collusion is good for both renters and landlords,' Polis wrote. 'We should not inadvertently take a tool off the table that could identify vacancies and provide consumers with meaningful data to help efficiently manage residential real estate to ensure people can access housing.' In a statement, RealPage applauded Polis' veto, calling it an example of 'courageous leadership.' 'This is the right outcome for all of us who desire a healthy housing ecosystem that benefits Colorado renters and housing providers alike,' said Jennifer Bowcock, a spokesperson for the Texas-based firm. But Polis' decision outraged local housing advocates and the American Economic Liberties Project, a consumer rights advocacy group that has helped lead the fight against RealPage and other companies that use rent-setting algorithms. 'This veto sends the devastating message that corporate landlords can keep using secret price-fixing algorithms to take extra rent from people who have the least,' said Sam Gilman, co-founder and president of the Community Economic Defense Project, a Colorado-based nonprofit. RealPage software provides daily recommendations to help landlords and their employees price their available apartments. The landlords do not have to follow the suggestions, but critics argue that because the software has access to a vast trove of confidential data, it helps RealPage's clients charge the highest possible rent. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Although Colorado was the first state to pass a bill targeting rental algorithms, at least six cities have passed similar ordinances over the past year. They include Philadelphia; Minneapolis; San Francisco; Berkeley, California; Jersey City, New Jersey; and Providence, Rhode Island. RealPage has decried those measures and sued over Berkeley's ordinance, saying it violates the company's free speech rights and is the result of an 'intentional campaign of misinformation and often-repeated false claims' about its products. RealPage argues that the real driver of high rents is a lack of housing supply. It also says that its pricing recommendations often encourage landlords to drop rents since landlords are incentivized to maximize revenue and maintain high occupancy. A clause recently added to Republicans' signature ' big, beautiful ' tax bill would ban states and localities from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade. On Tuesday, five Democratic senators sent a letter to RealPage asking if the company was involved in getting that clause inserted. RealPage did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the letter.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Colorado's governor vetoes landmark ban on rent-setting algorithms
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has vetoed a bill that would have made Colorado the first state to ban landlords from using rent-setting algorithms, which many advocates have blamed for driving up housing costs across the country. RealPage is the target of a federal lawsuit filed last year that accuses the real estate software company of facilitating an illegal scheme to help landlords coordinate to hike rental prices. Eight other states, including Colorado, have joined the Department of Justice's lawsuit, though RealPage has vehemently denied any claims of collusion and has fought to have the lawsuit dismissed. Critics say RealPage software combines confidential information from each real estate management company in ways that enable landlords to align prices and avoid competition that would otherwise push down rents. RealPage's clients include huge landlords who collectively oversee millions of units across the U.S. The Colorado bill, which recently passed the Democratic-led Legislature along party lines, would have prevented the use of such algorithms. In a veto letter Thursday, Polis said he understands the intent of the bill but that any collusion among landlords would already violate existing law. 'Reducing market friction through legitimate means that do not entail collusion is good for both renters and landlords,' Polis wrote. 'We should not inadvertently take a tool off the table that could identify vacancies and provide consumers with meaningful data to help efficiently manage residential real estate to ensure people can access housing.' In a statement, RealPage applauded Polis' veto, calling it an example of 'courageous leadership.' 'This is the right outcome for all of us who desire a healthy housing ecosystem that benefits Colorado renters and housing providers alike,' said Jennifer Bowcock, a spokesperson for the Texas-based firm. But Polis' decision outraged local housing advocates and the American Economic Liberties Project, a consumer rights advocacy group that has helped lead the fight against RealPage and other companies that use rent-setting algorithms. 'This veto sends the devastating message that corporate landlords can keep using secret price-fixing algorithms to take extra rent from people who have the least,' said Sam Gilman, co-founder and president of the Community Economic Defense Project, a Colorado-based nonprofit. RealPage software provides daily recommendations to help landlords and their employees price their available apartments. The landlords do not have to follow the suggestions, but critics argue that because the software has access to a vast trove of confidential data, it helps RealPage's clients charge the highest possible rent. Although Colorado was the first state to pass a bill targeting rental algorithms, at least six cities have passed similar ordinances over the past year. They include Philadelphia; Minneapolis; San Francisco; Berkeley, California; Jersey City, New Jersey; and Providence, Rhode Island. RealPage has decried those measures and sued over Berkeley's ordinance, saying it violates the company's free speech rights and is the result of an 'intentional campaign of misinformation and often-repeated false claims' about its products. RealPage argues that the real driver of high rents is a lack of housing supply. It also says that its pricing recommendations often encourage landlords to drop rents since landlords are incentivized to maximize revenue and maintain high occupancy. A clause recently added to Republicans' signature ' big, beautiful ' tax bill would ban states and localities from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade. On Tuesday, five Democratic senators sent a letter to RealPage asking if the company was involved in getting that clause inserted. RealPage did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the letter. R.j. Rico, The Associated Press Sign in to access your portfolio
