Rent Control, Public Power, and Higher Taxes: The 2025 Socialist Legislative Agenda
By The Overton Society Editorial Board
You do not have to guess at intentions when you can read the legislation. The 2025 state sessions offered a clear look at the socialist policy agenda where its legislators had the votes to advance it.
In Washington, HB 1217 imposed statewide rent control — caps on how much a landlord may raise rent. In New York, the Build Public Renewables Act directs the state power authority to build and own electricity generation, putting the government in the utility business. In California, Assemblymember Alex Lee's Social Housing Act (AB 11) would create a public housing developer and, in a companion bill, bar corporations from buying single-family homes. In Pennsylvania, DSA-aligned legislators advanced recreational-cannabis legalization through state-run stores and bills to cap regulated-utility profits. Perennial single-payer healthcare proposals in New York and Massachusetts would be financed by new payroll and graduated income taxes.
The through-line is unmistakable: each measure expands the state's control over a market that was previously private — housing, energy, healthcare, retail. Supporters call it fairness. We call it what the platform calls it — decommodification — and we think voters deserve to see the price tag and the precedent.
Every bill named here is a public record. Where a named legislator's roll-call vote is documented, The Overton Society records it and scores it against the defense of economic and constitutional liberty.
Primary sources
- • Washington State Legislature — HB 1217 (app.leg.wa.gov)
- • New York State Senate — Build Public Renewables Act (nysenate.gov)
- • California Assembly — AB 11 Social Housing Act (assembly.ca.gov)
- • Pennsylvania General Assembly — HB 1200 & related (palegis.us)
Analysis & opinion from The Overton Society. We cite primary records — the DSA's own platform and public legislative documents — and draw our own conclusions. We encourage you to read the sources and judge for yourself.
