Dem launches ‘renters caucus’ in House to draw attention to affordability crisis

The House of Representatives is chock-full of caucuses, hundreds of them expressing the common interest of individual members in everything from chemistry to nihilism. Plenty of them are frivolous, but some of them are serious and serve to focus attention on critical issues. That’s what California Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez is trying to do with his new group, the Renters Caucus: focus attention on the nation’s housing affordability crisis.

“Seventy-eight percent of my district is renters, and a larger and larger percentage are rent-burdened,” Gomez told Roll Call, explaining part of the impetus for him in forming the group. “When they hit any kind of economic issue, they end up on the street. … And there hasn’t been much of a coordinated approach to dealing with issues facing renters.”