LAS VEGAS — President Biden said Tuesday that “rent is too high.” Well, pretty much.
“Decades of failing to build enough housing have left rents too high and homebuying out of reach for many working families and young Americans,” the president said in a statement released from the White House as he prepared to speak at the NAACP convention on Tuesday afternoon.
“I’m determined to turn this around,” he said.
The Democratic front-runners aren’t exactly echoing the famous “rent is too expensive” line made famous by New York gubernatorial candidate James McMillan III in 2010 during a debate, but the sentiment is there.
“Today, I’m sending a clear message to corporate landlords: If you increase rents on your existing properties by more than 5 percent, you will lose your valuable tax incentive,” Biden said.
In a “fact sheet,” the White House acknowledged that would require congressional legislation, calling for both houses to pass the “Biden-Harris Housing Plan,” which Biden first proposed during his visit in March.
The plan would start by transferring federal land into a pool for housing development, selling 20 acres of Bureau of Land Management land at the bargain price of $100 per acre.
The White House said the BLM plans to soon announce the sale of 18 acres near Henderson as the federal government considers selling an additional 562.5 acres.
Housing has become a top concern in Southern Nevada, where rents have risen and home prices remain high after restrictions during the pandemic.
Biden is tying the announcement to his two-day stop in Las Vegas to try to connect with black and Hispanic voters, many of whom have left the Democratic Party to support former President Donald Trump. A poll released Tuesday, for example, showed the incumbent president’s approval rating has fallen by 20 points among black voters in Virginia.
Silver State residents pay $34,770 a year in housing costs, or 46 percent of the state’s take-home income, according to a recent study by home warranty company Cinci, which Cinci said is 10 percent above the national average.
Linda Fornos, a single mother from Nevada, spoke at the Republican National Convention on Monday, citing the economy as a reason for changing her vote this year.
“The Biden economy has caused the prices of everything to skyrocket: rent, gas, groceries,” she said. “As an insurance agent, I see people struggling to make ends meet and save for the future. I experience the same struggles every day. Life is too hard right now. One of my sons is working three jobs, the other is working two.”
Biden, who is in the area to speak to the Hispanic advocacy group Unidos US on Wednesday, hopes the housing plan will appease voters in tough economic times.
He also plans to do a sit-down interview with Black Entertainment Television as another outreach to minority voters.
But for Fornos, it’s a “no sell.”
“In 2020, I voted for Joe Biden. He made me regret it. This November, my vote will not be taken for granted,” she told a cheering convention audience.
