Marilyn Moore

SEN. MOORE LEADS PASSAGE OF BILL TO INCREASE CT’S AFFORDABLE HOUSING STOCK AND PROTECT RENTERS

HARTFORD – State Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport) today led passage of a bill designed to expand the rights of Connecticut renters and to finally determine the number of affordable housing units needed in each Connecticut city and town and then “fairly share” this affordable housing need across every town, instead of concentrating affordable housing in Connecticut’s cities.

The bill seeks to finally address Connecticut’s historic lack of affordable housing for our growing population, the concentration of that affordable housing in large cities instead of small- and mid-sized towns, and the demands of businesses and corporations who want more affordable housing options for their employees.

“This is a comprehensive bill, but we still have a way to go. This bill will give us a pathway forward and allow us to come back in a few years and build on it,” said Sen. Moore, who is Senate Chair of the Housing Committee. “I’m proud of the collaborative work of our committee, especially that of my co-chair, state Representative Geoff Luxenberg.”

Senate Bill 998 passed the state Senate today on an 23-13 vote after passing the House of Representatives last week. The bill now heads to Governor Ned Lamont for his signature into law.

Most importantly, S.B. 998 requires the state Office of Policy and Management, by December 1, 2024, to create a way of measuring the minimum affordable housing needs in each of Connecticut’s nine planning regions: Northwest Hills, Western, Metropolitan, Naugatuck Valley, Capitol Region, South Central, Lower Connecticut River Valley, Northeastern, and Southeastern.
Under the bill, each city and town’s affordable housing need will be determined by using the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy.

With a few caveats, the particular number of affordable housing units needed in each city and town will then be assigned to them – in effect, assigning every municipality its “fair share” of the overall affordable housing need for Connecticut residents.

Connecticut cities have long held sole responsibility for offer most of the affordable housing available I the state. For example, according to CTData, 21.22% of the housing in Bridgeport is considered affordable, but only 0.11% in Bridgewater is considered affordable. 33.37% of the housing in New Haven is considered affordable, but only 2.43% in New Hartford is considered affordable. 19.38% of the housing in Norwich is considered affordable, but only 1.08% in North Stonington is considered affordable.

During his February 8 budget address, Gov. Lamont noted the need for more affordable housing in Connecticut, stating “We are still desperately short of housing. Millions of dollars for workforce training will go to naught if we don’t have enough housing where workers can afford to live. Having just climbed out of a fiscal crisis, I don’t want to fall into a housing crisis.”

S.B. 998 also enacts new and comprehensive protections for the 31 percent of Connecticut residents who live in rental housing. The new protections include: Increases fines to $2,000 per day for landlords who violate safe and sanitary housing rules; Limits rental application fees; Limits the late charges that landlords can charge for overdue rent; Requires landlords to give tenants the opportunity for a pre-occupancy “walk-through”; Expands housing discrimination based on sexual orientation; Shortens the deadline for a landlord to return a tenant’s security deposit

The bill also requires the state Department of Veterans Affairs to convert vacant or underused available housing for homeless veterans, and for the state Department of Housing to create a pilot program to provide temporary housing for veterans and others who are temporarily homeless and who need of short-term care.