<
https://shelterforce.org/2026/02/04/when-rent-rises-so-does-minimum-wage-a-new-model-in-santa-fe/>
"What happens when you connect wages to local housing costs? Officials in Santa
Fe, New Mexico, hope that doing so will help ease the pressure of rapidly
rising rents and allow people who work in the city to also live there.
At the tail end of last year, the city of Santa Fe approved an update to its
living wage ordinance, raising the minimum wage to $17.50 an hour starting in
2027. But here’s the kicker: the update also changed how that wage is
calculated in the future. Beginning in March 2028, the city will incorporate
HUD’s Fair Market Rent (FMR) into the formula. Housing advocates and local
officials believe it’s the first city in the country to do so.
“For years, one of the ways that we’ve described the problem of the rising cost
of housing is that it’s not keeping up with wages,” says Chris Genese, director
of campaigns at Right to the City, a national tenants rights alliance. “This is
the first time we’ve seen legislative action that is deliberately tying these
two things together.”
The new formula will take 50 percent of the Consumer Price Index for the region
plus 50 percent of the FMR for a two-bedroom unit in Santa Fe to determine the
city’s minimum wage. And while the increase will be capped at 5 percent, it
will never decrease.
From a national organizing perspective, this housing victory is one not
confined to Santa Fe but, as local organizers also hope, one that’s replicable
across the country, including in places beholden to state preemption laws for
housing."
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-data-centers-meet-their-match-maine/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
