Yucatan Lawmakers Propose Rent Cap, Prenatal Support, and Circular Economy Laws

Mérida, Yucatan — Yucatan state lawmakers have introduced five legislative initiatives aimed at capping rent increases, requiring financial support from fathers during pregnancy, promoting a circular economy, boosting vaccination funding, and restricting partisan use of public resources.

The proposals come from legislators across multiple parties, including the PAN, Movimiento Ciudadano, Morena, and Partido del Trabajo, and were presented to the state congress.

Francisco Rosas Villavicencio, a Partido del Trabajo deputy, proposed reforms to the Civil Code and State Housing Law to establish a cap on rent increases for housing in Yucatan. The cap would be tied to inflation rather than left to landlords’ discretion.

Rosas Villavicencio cited examples from northern Mérida, where average rents have risen from 8,000 to 10,000 pesos in 2020 to between 12,000 and 18,000 pesos in 2025.

Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, female deputies from PAN, Morena, and Movimiento Ciudadano presented positions and initiatives related to women’s issues.

PAN deputy María Teresa Boehm Calero proposed amending the Family Code to include prenatal care provisions, requiring fathers to provide financial support from the pregnancy stage.

Wilmer Monforte Marfil, president of the Board of Government and Political Coordination, introduced an initiative to create a Circular and Permacultural Economy Law. He emphasized that companies should design recyclable products from the outset and take responsibility for the complete lifecycle of their products. He also highlighted the need to transform organic market waste into compost rather than sending it to landfills.

Morena deputy Clara Rosales Montiel proposed strengthening vaccination efforts in the state through an irreducible and progressive budget allocation. Movimiento Ciudadano deputy Javier Osante Solís introduced an initiative to prevent the partisan use of public resources.

During the session, deputies also approved a reform to the Yucatan State Constitution regarding mental health, nutritious food, and non-discrimination. The approved measure integrates four initiatives from different legislative factions and aims to strengthen preventive mental health services, expand specialized community-focused care, establish the right to sufficient and culturally appropriate nutritious food with a food sovereignty approach, support local production, protect strategic crops like corn, and back Yucatan’s agricultural sector as a strategic pillar of well-being.