Nick Niedzwiadek and Bil Mahoney report for Politico that Democrats passed new rent laws June 14, not just for New York City, but for the entire state. The Senate voted 36 to 26 for the new regulations, and the Assembly voted 95 to 41, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill. Real estate lobbyists did everything they could to stop the bill. "I’m confident the measure passed today is the strongest possible set of reforms that the Legislature was able to pass and are a major step forward for tenants across New York," Cuomo said. Republicans were upset at several parts of the bill, including allowing localities upstate to opt-into rent-regulation if they have a vacancy rate of below five percent. “Nobody I know is going to put money into a place where they will make less money,” Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer said on the Senate floor. He also said he believes it “really does not provide any incentive to invest your money in older housing stock.” Read more about this story at the Politico website.