Housing

Young lawmakers are seeking to: increase authority and flexibility for local governments to allow diverse types of housing and approve more affordable housing; develop housing policies that promote a mix of housing options for communities including missing middle housing, and; increase data-driven decisions including encouraging housing production in places with strong demand and increasing the supply of affordable rental units in opportunity-rich communities
To ensure constituents can access an affordable place to live, there must be an adequate supply of appropriate housing options. To increase the supply, lawmakers are turning to a variety of bipartisan solutions, such as: increasing the authority and flexibility for local governments to allow diverse types of housing and approve more affordable housing; developing housing policies that promote a mix of housing options for communities including missing middle housing; and increasing data-driven decisions including encouraging housing production in places with strong demand and increasing the supply of affordable rental units in opportunity-rich communities.

Eviction from one’s home is often the catalyst for further economic instability. To protect gains made in providing access to quality, affordable housing to people, lawmakers are expanding renter protections so that those who have housing do not lose it. . Solutions include providing financial support to low-income households through household-based rental assistance, subsidies to help low-income homeowners and prospective homeowners, and savings and down-payment assistance for first-time homeowners.

Adequate housing is an essential component of community economic growth and citizen well-being. Consequently, many lawmakers are leveraging tax policy to spark more equitable housing outcomes for their constituents. These solutions include approving tools such as inclusionary zoning and special taxing districts for affordable housing; allocating a percentage of the state income tax rate to go toward grants and programs to increase affordable housing; providing rental assistance; and advancing voter-approved bonds to finance affordable housing projects, among other policies.