HARTFORD, CT – The Connecticut General Assembly’s Housing Committee held its final regular meeting of the session to consider whether to advance several pieces of legislation.
Most of the bills passed with little or no discussion, as the committee had already considered the arguments regarding the bills during public testimony. However, the committee did work meticulously through Senate Bill 6, An Act Concerning Housing, due to its omnibus nature.
Rep. Tony Scott, R-Monroe, raised concerns about the strict requirements regarding the construction of affordable housing, and whether they were more harmful than helpful.
“One of the big things we’ve heard a lot in committee from activists, is that these small towns are not doing their ‘fair share’ to get enough affordable housing in the state,” he said. “We hear that, but when we try to adjust the sales tax [to incentivize construction of affordable housing], we’re giving benefits to developers who build larger developments. In my small towns, those developments are never going to happen.
“Let’s try to incentivize smaller construction projects. Even if it’s only five affordable units, we’ll take those five. Let’s get the five, let’s get the three, let’s get the 10 units,” Scott said. “I think this is something that only benefits the larger cities, who are saying they’re doing their job on affordable housing already. Let’s help more to get those units into smaller towns.”
Later, Rep. Steve Weir, R-Glastonbury, introduced a motion to change language in Senate Bill 209. The bill introduces requirements for nonresident owners to report certain personal information such as address to the tax assessors of municipalities. Weir requested that the word “shall,” which would require municipalities to collect the information, to “may,” which would leave the decision up to the towns.
“There’s a lot of good things in this bill, but basically we’re requiring towns to collect the registration of nonresident owner. My concern with that is that I hear from my towns, ‘Please don’t send us any unfunded mandates. Don’t give us something that we have to do without sending us resources.'”
Despite these concerns, committee members were largely united in their desire to increase access to affordable housing in the state to combat Connecticut’s housing crisis. The committee voted unanimously to make access to housing voucher programs easier, as well as measures to help develop “middle” housing, which consists of multifamily housing aimed at working people and younger families.
A proposal from earlier in the session to add $20 million to the budget to help combat homelessness by increasing shelter outreach and funding other initiatives did not make it into the bills sent for further consideration.
At the end of the meeting, the new chair took time to thank everyone for their work.
“The staff has been incredible, especially with me coming in halfway through session and playing catchup the way that I have in terms of policy and really getting down to the crux of the issues that you’ve all been working on,” said Rep. Felipe Antonio, D-Bridgeport, co-chair of the committee.
“I want to thank my colleagues from the other side of the aisle for working with us on these bills and having discussions, sometimes a little bit longer than I would like,” said Sen. Marilyn Moore, D-Bridgeport, to smiles from the committee’s Republicans. “It seems like we just walked in the door, but we managed to get alot done.”
Bills that passed the housing committee and where they went:
- SB 6, An Act Concerning Housing – Passed 10-5, JFS to House floor
- SB 146, An Act Concerning the Administration of the Rental Assistance Program and Other Housing Voucher Programs – Passed 15-0, JFS to House floor
- SB 209, An Act Concerning Nonresident Landlord Registration And Increasing Penalties For Repeat Building And Fire Code Violations – Passed 13-2, JFS to Judiciary Committee
- SB 267, An Act Requiring a Study of the Effects of Short-Term Rentals on the Housing Market of the State – Passed 13-2, JF to House floor
- HB 5332, An Act Establishing the Interagency Council on Homelessness – Passed 15-0, JFS to House floor
- HB 5334, An Act Requiring the Majority Leaders’ Roundtable Group on Affordable Housing to Study Residential Mobility Counseling Programs in the State – Passed 11-4, JF to House floor
- HB 5335, An Act Concerning the Development of Middle Housing – Passed 15-0, JF to House floor
- HB 5336, An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Connecticut Housing and Segregation Study – Passed 11-4, JFS to House Floor
- HB 5337, An Act Concerning Affordable Housing Development Practices – Passed 14-1, JFS to House floor
