Home rule on rent control. As it stands, every three years the city's tenants have to wage a fight in Albany to get the state to renew rent control and rent stabilization protections that are necessary for many New Yorkers. Upstate Senate Republicans are neither particularly knowledgeable nor particularly concerned about the problems of New York City renters. We believe that control of the rent control issue ought to be passed to the City Council, which could more effectively make decisions on a situation near and dear to the hearts of their constituents. We also support the repeal of the Urstadt Law, which bans the Council from making rent control and rent stabilization laws more effective.

 Preservation and extension of low and middle-income housing. Affordable housing has been made possible in the past by programs like Mitchell-Lama. However, Mitchell-Lama and Section 8 tenant protection provisions often expire, providing tenants with no protection whatsoever after a phase-in period. These protections should be extended to more reasonable periods of time, and should be covered by rent stabilization laws when the original protections expire. In addition, we support legislation to build more such housing, for the general public as well as for groups with special needs, so that affordable New York City housing can become a reality.