STATEMENT TO

SENATE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE, No. 2953

with Senate Floor Amendments

(Proposed by Senator MORIARTY)

ADOPTED: FEBRUARY 25, 2025

      These floor amendments modify the applicability of the preemption provision in the bill.

      Specifically, the floor amendments provide that the provisions of the bill would not preempt an ordinance, rule, or regulation, or other law regarding rent control, rent leveling, or rent stabilization adopted by the governing body of a municipality (municipal rent control law) that:

      (1)  provides a fixed, numerical municipal rent increase limit that is not based upon, in whole or in part, the Consumer Price Index, or other variable criteria;

      (2)  was adopted in a municipality that provides and utilizes a rent leveling board or similar municipal agency charged with regulating rents; and

      (3)  provides a rent increase limit on a covered dwelling site that is less than or equal to three percent over the course of a 12-month period, regardless of exceptions permitted in the municipal law, including but not limited to, whether a determination, made by a rent leveling board or similar municipal agency authorizes an exemption from the limit provided by the municipal rent control law, resulting in a rent increase on a covered dwelling site that is greater than three percent over the course of a 12-month period, provided the exceptions are not based upon the Consumer Price Index, or other variable criteria.

      The floor amendments provide that the provisions of the bill would preempt a municipal rent control law that:

      (1)  provides a rent increase limit on a covered dwelling site that is greater than three percent over the course of a 12-month period;

      (2)  does not provide a fixed, numerical municipal rent increase limit, and instead is based upon, in whole or in part, the Consumer Price Index, or other variable criteria; or

      (3)  was adopted in a municipality that does not provide or utilize a rent leveling board or similar municipal agency charged with regulating rents.

      The floor amendments also provide that if a municipal rent control law is preempted pursuant to the bill due to the failure of the municipality, in which such a municipal rent control law was adopted, to provide or utilize a rent leveling board or similar municipal agency charged with regulating rents, the bill would not preempt the fixed, numerical municipal rent increase limit provided in the municipal rent control law, but would otherwise preempt the municipal rent control law.  The floor amendments also make a technical correction.