Topic: Rent Control

Midterm ballot initiatives saw Michigan legalize recreational marijuana and Florida restore voting rights to 1.5 million former felons. In California, voters rejected a repeal of the gas tax and a rent control expansion (Proposition 10). The rejection of Proposition 10 is attributed to heavy spending by real estate investment trusts, while the gas tax vote is seen as a failure of the public to protect their own financial interests.

San Francisco has begun enforcing a 1981 ordinance that prohibits residents from renting out apartments for less than 30 days, targeting short-term tourist rentals. Similarly, in Amsterdam, owners of second homes are being forced to make their properties available to the social rental pool. The hosts argue these measures are intended to protect the hotel industry and manage housing shortages for "slaves."