Minority Leader Pugliese and Assistant Leader Winter Criticize Biden Administration's Overreach into Private Business and Land Use

Denver, CO – July 22, 2024 – Minority Leader Rose Pugliese and Assistant Minority Leader Ty Winter today expressed strong concerns regarding President Biden's recent initiatives aimed at controlling rent increases and repurposing public land. These actions, announced on July 16, 2024, reflect a troubling trend of federal overreach into private business practices and land management.

Minority Leader Rose Pugliese stated, "The President's call for federal intervention in private landlord practices is a clear overstep into private business. By imposing a rent increase cap, the administration is not only undermining private property rights but also risking the stability of rental markets. This heavy-handed approach threatens to stifle investment and reduce the availability of rental properties."

Assistant Minority Leader Ty Winter added, "The administration's plan to repurpose federal land for affordable housing is another instance of government encroaching on local and private land use decisions. While affordable housing is a crucial issue, the approach of using federal land and overriding local decisions comes nowhere close to solving the issue and raises serious concerns about property rights and local control."

President Biden's recent announcement includes a proposal to limit rent increases by corporate landlords to 5% and repurpose public land for the construction of affordable housing. The plan also calls for legislative changes that could affect federal tax breaks for landlords and seeks to utilize federal and other public lands for new housing developments.

Pugliese and Winter both emphasize that while the goal of increasing affordable housing is important, these measures represent a troubling trend of federal intervention that could have unintended consequences for both private businesses and local land use practices. They argue that such policies could undermine market dynamics and property rights, potentially leading to negative impacts on the housing sector.