With the next legislative session set to commence in early February, housing affordability advocates are outlining their policy priorities.
The housing policy advocacy group Partnership for Strong Communities is prioritizing strengthening existing programs, according to Alysha Gardner, the Partnership’s senior policy analyst.
“The focus on existing programs is not because we're trying to change anything, but because we know they work,” Gardner said. “They just need more investment to work for the most number of people possible.”
Some of their goals include expanding the Rental Assistance Program (RAP), which is Connecticut’s local version of Section 8 housing vouchers, Gardner said. The Partnership also hopes to increase protections for the state’s affordable housing statute, known as Section 8-30g.
The Partnership released a statement outlining housing objectives, which said in part, “By advancing zoning and planning reforms and upholding 8-30g, we can create more inclusive communities and ensure that people of all incomes have access to affordable homes."
In Connecticut, communities with more than 10% affordable housing stock are able to deny requests to construct additional housing complexes. Communities below the threshold aren’t able to deny projects that incorporate affordable options. However, they can appeal to the state government for intervention.
The Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals Procedure was enacted in 1989 as a way to facilitate the construction of affordable housing, particularly in communities that did not already have a large supply of affordable units.
Housing advocates say the law makes sure communities include affordable housing. But those who are against the bill say it’s too restrictive and does not give local government leaders enough authority over housing development creation in their community.
Advocates are also calling for more transparency from the state in regards to how funding for affordable housing creation is being utilized.
“What we're most concerned about now, instead of asking for more and more bonding money, is more targeting of that towards deeply affordable units,” Gardner said.
The return of Just Cause
This year, Connecticut Tenants Union (CTTU) is once again taking on the expansion of the state’s “just cause” eviction law.
The existing Just Cause Eviction law protects residents who are at least 62 years-old or have a disability, from being evicted from their home without being given a reason, such as nonpayment of rent or a violation of the lease agreement.
Under previously proposed expansions, all tenants of buildings with five or more units for at least one year would be protected from evictions without cause.
“Landlords shouldn’t have the power to uproot our lives,” CTTU wrote in a campaign appeal. “Right now in Connecticut, landlords can use ‘lapse-of-time,’ ‘no-fault’ evictions to push most tenants out of their homes. Many of these ‘no-fault’ evictions are driven by discrimination or retaliation against those who speak up about problems.”
Changes at the federal level
Connecticut Voices for Children, is an advocacy group which supports policies aimed at improving the lives of children across the state. It recently recommended policy changes that would compensate for federal shifts.
Cuts to federal funding and social service programs will result in nearly $500 million in cuts to Connecticut during the current fiscal year, according to Patrick O’Brien, research and policy director at Connecticut Voices for Children.
“When focusing on lifting people out of poverty as well as the expenses that push people into poverty, the most important public benefits include social security, medicaid and medicare, the federal income tax, including the refundable tax credits, food assistance through SNAP and housing assistance,” O'Brien said.
Voices for Children is recommending ways the state can counteract tax cuts for the nation’s wealthiest residents and make up for a lack of social services funding.
