The most recent legislative session saw the failure of two significant and controversial pieces of housing legislation: a bill that would encourage more density near train and bus stations, and another that would have protected most renters against evictions that occur when their leases end.
It鈥檚 left advocates and lawmakers frustrated with the slow progress of policies that aim to expand affordable housing in 黑料吃瓜网.
The Democrats鈥� major housing bill 鈥� an omnibus bill that included a wide range of solutions 鈥� will just scratch the surface, advocates and lawmakers said. The bill notably allows the conversion of nursing homes to multi-family housing without a special hearing before town zoning commissions and offers towns incentives to build more 鈥渕iddle housing,鈥� or homes such as duplexes, triplexes or townhomes.
The entire country is grappling with a shortage of housing units. 黑料吃瓜网 is short about that are affordable and available to its lowest-income residents.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that we passed anything that kind of meets the moment,鈥� said House Majority Leader Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford. He called the work of the most recent session 鈥減ainful incrementalism.鈥�
The housing crisis has metastasized in recent years and grown more acute since the COVID-19 pandemic. Statewide homelessness is on the rise. Thousands are paying too much of their income to housing costs. There are few homes available for purchase. Apartment vacancy rates are low.
Experts have attributed the lack of affordable housing in 黑料吃瓜网 to restrictive local zoning ordinances that make it hard to build multi-family housing on most of the state鈥檚 land. This disproportionately shuts people with low incomes and people of color out of certain towns.
Still, housing and particularly statewide zoning reform initiatives have been a sort of political third-rail in 黑料吃瓜网 for many years. And in an election year when incumbent lawmakers are defending their seats, it鈥檚 a particularly sensitive topic to broach.
鈥淏uilding is unsettling for people and does have ramifications,鈥� Rojas said. 鈥� 鈥� it all feeds into this kind of political inability to actually make real movement on it.鈥�
Senate leadership expressed similar sentiments.
鈥淚 would say overall, it鈥檚 still a deeply frustrating issue because we can鈥檛 make the progress we want to make,鈥� said Senate Majority Leader Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk.
The problem has been a long time coming, said Sen. Rick Lopes, D-New Britain, a former chair of the Housing Committee.
鈥淭he only difference I see is back then in the housing committee, we saw that we were heading toward a significant problem in terms of housing availability,鈥� Lopes said. 鈥淎nd now it鈥檚 here.鈥�
Housing Committee co-chair Sen. Marilyn Moore, D-Bridgeport, said this was the first session in a decade in the legislature that she felt she didn鈥檛 accomplish as much as she wanted to.
鈥淒o we really have the will to make these changes?鈥� Moore said. 鈥淏ecause I do believe poverty is intentional. If we鈥檙e not willing to address poverty, then nothing is going to change.鈥�
Eviction
Moore advocated for an eviction protection bill during the last legislative session that would have banned lapse-of-time evictions in larger apartment buildings. This protection already exists for certain groups in 黑料吃瓜网, including senior citizens and people with disabilities.
The bill passed committee, but Rojas said the House didn鈥檛 have enough votes, and that the measure would have failed anyway.
Moore had planned to include the eviction protection in Senate Bill 6, which was originally the Senate Democrats鈥� wide-ranging housing priority bill. Most of the Democratic lawmakers signed on to support it, although there was some dissent within the caucus.
Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, said she opposed the bill. She wanted to adjust it to only apply to larger cities, she said. Advocates of the bill said that wasn鈥檛 a compromise they wanted to make because they didn鈥檛 want the protections to be based on geography or population size.
鈥淵ou have to be willing to work things through, 鈥� and if you鈥檙e not willing to work things through, then what鈥檚 going to happen is you turn everybody off, you don鈥檛 get your policy voted on,鈥� Osten said during a forum on childhood poverty.
She also said that she didn鈥檛 want to write policies that create 鈥渨inners and losers,鈥� and that her district didn鈥檛 have tenant unions or larger apartment buildings, so she didn鈥檛 think it would be as relevant.
Tenant union organizer Luke Melankos-Harrison said they鈥檇 agreed to a one-year probationary period, so that the protection would kick in after one year of a lease.
鈥淭he idea of tenant rights changing drastically based on where you live in the state 鈥� we already have the fair rent commission version of that,鈥� Melankos-Harrison said. 鈥淎s an actual tenant, for your rights to be different based on what town you live in or whether you鈥檙e at 24,000 or 25,000 people, it鈥檚 just not great.鈥�
黑料吃瓜网 only requires larger towns to have fair rent commissions.
He added that the tenant union group was dealing with a lot of misinformation around the issue.
鈥淭here are a lot of legislators who are not familiar with the issue, so there鈥檚 just kind of a lot of misinformation around the legislature that we had to work on dispelling,鈥� he said.
Planning and Development Committee co-chair Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, D-Avon, said there were some concerns about protecting good landlords and issues with a false narrative around the bill.
鈥淚 think the challenge is that there was a narrative built around that bill that it meant that you could never evict someone,鈥� Kavros DeGraw said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 where the uphill battle really was, and you know there are plenty of good landlords out there and unfortunately there are some not so good landlords. You have to protect people.鈥�
Moore said she thought lawmakers were listening too much to landlords over tenants.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really frustrating,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what the problem has been in the past. I thought maybe the problem was that there were landlords chairing the committee, but I don鈥檛 think that anymore. I think it鈥檚 the political will of people to do this.鈥�
Advocates said lapse-of-time evictions are often used against tenants who complain about conditions or as retaliation for forming a tenants union.
The lack of apartments makes it harder for tenants to have negotiating power, said Sean Ghio, policy director at the Partnership for Strong Communities. If there aren鈥檛 other apartments to go to, tenants have a harder time arguing for repairs and evictions mean it鈥檚 much harder to find a new place to live.
鈥淵es, there鈥檚 a future state where we have enough housing and landlords do not have the same sort of dominant negotiating position that they have now,鈥� Ghio said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the truth now, and it might not be the truth ever.鈥�
Landlord groups came with strong opposition to the bill, saying they use lapse-of-time evictions to get rid of tenants who cause problems.
鈥淚 kind of say 鈥楲et鈥檚 back up and say what is the problem that we鈥檙e trying to resolve?,鈥欌�� said Kelly Kilham, president of the 黑料吃瓜网 Apartment Association. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that I think there was a complete agreement about the intention of what it was trying to solve.鈥�
Housing Committee ranking member Rep. Tony Scott, R-Monroe, said he wants to look at other ways to hold bad landlords accountable and ensure cities are answering residents鈥� concerns. He said that there needs to be a way to hold out-of-state landlords鈥� feet to the fire and that there should be easier ways to contact them.
He added that he wants to talk with the legislature鈥檚 Judiciary Committee about the problem.
鈥淚鈥檓 not saying put people in jail, but if that鈥檚 what it takes is the threat of putting people in jail, whatever we need to do,鈥� Scott said.
Kilham said the landlords want to see more focus on increasing housing stock, although they haven鈥檛 started work with any of the housing advocacy groups to help with zoning reform efforts. They supported 搁辞箩补蝉鈥� bill to encourage middle housing, she said.
鈥淚 think that housing is such an important component here in 黑料吃瓜网 right now, especially,鈥� Kilham said. 鈥淚 think nationally, but here at home it鈥檚 important. We need supply, and I guess I think that we had an opportunity to have our voices heard.鈥�
Majority leader bill
搁辞箩补蝉鈥� , including offering points toward getting a temporary moratorium from the state鈥檚 8-30g law if towns allow middle housing without a special hearing in front of the zoning commission.
The 8-30g law offers court remedies to developers if their proposals for affordable housing are denied. Towns are exempt if at least 10% of their housing stock is designated affordable and can achieve temporary moratoriums as they build more affordable housing.
Scott said he also wants to work on more changes to 8-30g in the next legislative session. Planning and Development ranking member Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, said it鈥檚 one of his priorities as well.
Fazio said he鈥檇 like to change the definition of affordable housing to include more types of housing and have a fixed denominator when figuring the 10%, so the goal doesn鈥檛 move as towns build more housing that鈥檚 not designated affordable.
He voted for 搁辞箩补蝉鈥� bill, saying that while it wasn鈥檛 perfect, it did recognize the complexity of the issue.
鈥淲hile there were things in it that I didn鈥檛 like as much, there were also things that I liked a lot,鈥� Fazio said.
搁辞箩补蝉鈥� bill also included a requirement that landlords give 45 days notice of rent increases and required towns allow abandoned nursing homes to be turned into multi-family housing.
Planning and Development co-chair Sen. MD Rahman, D-Manchester, said it will likely take more than one legislative session to address the lack of affordable housing, but said the bill makes 鈥渋mportant steps.鈥�
鈥淭he bill provides a variety of incentives to towns and cities, allowing each community flexibility to develop housing in the manner that best suits their community鈥檚 needs,鈥� Rahman said, in a written response to questions.
Maria Weingarten, a member of the group 169 Strong, said the group liked some aspects of the bill, but would have prefered it didn鈥檛 allow development 鈥渁s-of-right,鈥� or without a special hearing before the zoning commission.
The group, which has opposed many land use reform efforts, also wants to see 8-30g reform, she said.
鈥淚 feel like it鈥檚 always Groundhog Day,鈥� Weingarten said. 鈥淚t really is what it is unfortunately. Sort of the same proposals get hashed out again and again. The only issue that鈥檚 truly missing is working with local leaders. A one-size policy will never work.鈥�
Kavros DeGraw said she thinks there will be more work next session on zoning.
鈥淎gain, I think we will be looking at a variety of land use and zoning issues that give empowering tools to towns,鈥� Kavros DeGraw said.
Work, Live, Ride
A proposal to push towns to increase density near train and bus stations from Desegregate 黑料吃瓜网 鈥� the farthest it鈥檚 come in recent sessions 鈥� before dying in the Senate.
Lawmakers say they .
鈥淥n the one hand if you told me in a short session you would get 90 votes in the House and the governor would be on board, that would be amazing,鈥� said Pete Harrison, 黑料吃瓜网 director for the Regional Plan Association. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard to do anything with a statewide zoning bill. On the other hand, to know we have the votes in the Senate and to not see it get called and see it get through is really frustrating.鈥�
Duff said the bill would likely be back next year.
Rojas said because home is one of the most personal things in a person鈥檚 life, changes to zoning can feel personal. It makes it politically difficult to pass zoning legislation, he said.
鈥淭hose who are secure in their housing are comfortable and perceive change as a threat to the largest investment you鈥檒l ever make,鈥� Rojas said.
Republicans said they want to see a more nuanced solution.
鈥淚 think we really need to commit ourselves to a global solution to housing,鈥� said Planning and Development ranking member Rep. Joe Zullo, R-East Haven. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 going to involve a realistic transit-oriented development plan and a realistic reform of 8-30g.鈥�
The proposal offered some priority funding of state dollars to towns that created transit districts 鈥� or denser districts with more housing near public transit. Towns would not be disqualified from getting funding if they did not create the districts.
Weingarten said she wants to see more consideration given to the 鈥渟cale,鈥� of nearby buildings in zoning proposals.
鈥淎t least it鈥檚 within the scale of what鈥檚 already existing, so it doesn鈥檛 stick out,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 reflective of what鈥檚 existing in the environment.鈥�
Harrison said the bill aimed to allow towns to decide to build the districts and would allow community members to speak up about what they want to see in the transit districts.
鈥淚鈥檓 very comfortable that the bill is really good policy, it鈥檚 good politics but really at the heart of what Work, Live, Ride is trying to do, it鈥檚 not really trying to solve it at the state level, it鈥檚 trying to create the space for local organizing,鈥� he said.