Private equity's political problem
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
If Democrats gain full control of Congress next week, as many polls and prediction markets suggest they will, private equity could once again find itself in the political crosshairs.
The big picture: Private equity has become a rhetorical punching bag for a number of Democratic House and Senate candidates, including in debates and on the stump, as an affordability bête noire.
- Most of this has related to housing, both single-family and mobile homes, but also has extended to health care.
What they're saying: "It's no doubt that housing is way out of control and a big part of that is because private equity has come into Maine," said Troy Jackson in an Oct. 6 debate with Sen. Susan Collins. "I do think we have to go after private equity, make it so that they can't buy these things and charge outrageous prices."
- Chris Pappas, running for an open Senate seat in New Hampshire, said during a campaign stop at a mobile home community: "We need to... address the housing crisis that we're seeing, including addressing the corporate private equity influence that we're seeing in housing that's making it less affordable and is causing a lot of consternation here at this park."
- Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) decried PE ownership of residential care facilities during a public event, saying: "Those people know nothing about health care."
State of play: Congress passed a bipartisan bill this past summer to restrict PE ownership of single-family homes, with the Treasury Department last week issuing related regulations.
- The legislation became law despite not being signed by President Trump, who supported it but was in a snit over the Senate not passing his voter identification bill.
Zoom in: A Democratic sweep would likely result in Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) taking the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee gavel, which means she'd go from writing strongly worded letters to holding hearings and guiding legislation.
- "Americans are sick and tired of private equity's playbook of rolling through industry after industry, jacking up prices and leaving local businesses and workers in the dust," she tells Axios. "After we passed a bipartisan law this year to ban private equity from buying up homes, candidates everywhere are campaigning on reining in private equity in the next Congress, whether in hospitals, mobile home communities, residential care facilities, or other industries."
- It's also worth noting that Warren has Republican allies when it comes to some of these issues, having worked with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on a stalled health bill that has also been endorsed by Senate candidate James Talarico.
The bottom line: Private equity has a very successful track record in beating back federal legislation that could hurt its bottom line. What to watch is if past proves to be precedent.
