Key Findings

1. Initiative 2 is a rent control measure that would impose a harsh penalty on landlords who raise rent above a fixed 8% annual threshold.
2. The Initiative would reduce the supply of affordable housing by discouraging builders from creating and maintaining rental units.
3. Initiative 2 is a near carbon copy of a Portland rent-control measure passed in 2017 that has increased housing unaffordability.
4. The negative results of the Portland measure show that Bellingham should expect a double-digit percentage decline in available units if rent control is imposed.
5. Initiative sponsors’ claims of success in other cities with similar initiatives are demonstrably false.
6. The experience of other cities shows rent control increases housing unaffordability, falls hardest on low-income renters, and increases homelessness.
7. Initiative 2 does nothing to address the root causes of housing unaffordability in Bellingham.

Introduction

In the 2021 general election a group called People First Bellingham placed an initiative on the Bellingham ballot modeled on the Renter Relocation Assistance law that was passed in Portland in 2017.

The 2021 measure would have required a landlord to pay relocation fees to tenants if the landlord raised rent more than 8% in a rolling 12-month period. Much of the language of the Portland law was copied verbatim into the Bellingham initiative, except the Bellingham measure would have set the fee at three months market rate rent payments, while the Portland law uses fixed and typically lower fees based on the number of a unit’s bedrooms. The 2021 Bellingham proposal was defeated by voters.

People First Bellingham included representatives from other organizations such as Whatcom Democratic Socialists of America and Bellingham Tenants Union. Since 2021 it changed its name to “Community First Whatcom” and placed Initiative 2 on the 2023 general election ballot. This initiative is nearly identical to the failed 2021 measure with some slight changes which mostly increase the negative impact on the housing market.

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