Rep. Larry Butler, chair of the Housing Committee.
UPDATE — Without a vote to spare, the state legislature voted in special session Monday to override the governor’s veto of a bill to upgrade the state’s Affordable Housing statute. The House of Representatives needed 101 votes — and that’s what they got yesterday afternoon. The Senate needed 24 votes, and that was the outcome last night.
Rep. Lonnie Reed (D‑Branford), has worked for many years to upgrade the state’s Affordable Housing statute 8 – 30g. She was one of the co-sponsors of the bill that will now become law.
With Permission
State Rep. Lonnie Reed
“It’s been a long journey with lots of twists and turns,” Reed (pictured) told the Eagle yesterday. “Today’s veto override was a real cliffhanger and the debate again underscored huge differences among our colleagues. Most of us agree more affordable housing is imperative, but we often disagree on how to get there. Those of us who believe 8 – 30g must be updated and refined have always encountered fierce opposition from those who suspect our motives. This battle has often been a Sisyphean task, but today was a very good day.”
Town Planner Harry Smith told the Eagle in December that he’d like to see the statute revised. “There are loopholes in the statute, and it’s been used in ways it wasn’t intended to be. It’s like a cancer treatment, it’s a shotgun, across-the-board way to get at the issue, but it has so many side-effects in terms of its potential impact on communities.” Click here to read the story.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy vetoed the bill earlier this month even though it received overwhelming bipartisan support from state legislators. The House of Representatives voted 116 – 33 in late May, which means they lost some supporters in yesterday’s vote, which was 101 – 47. The Senate voted 30 – 6 in early June, but the vote after debate last night was 24 – 12.
It requires a two-thirds vote by each chamber to override a governor’s veto.
The House vote followed about two hours of debate led by Rep. Larry Butler (D‑Waterbury), chair of the Housing Committee.
“It’s a bill that’s going to establish more affordable housing in towns that wouldn’t normally have the opportunity,” Butler told the representatives. He said without the upgrades, predatory developers would continue to take advantage of towns and overrule local zoning boards. “Hopefully, passing this bill will give towns a chance to reach a moratorium so that they can have their own say in matters.”
Connecticut is the only state in the nation with affordable housing procedures that allow private developers to supersede local zoning regulations and force through housing proposals if a community has not met its quota for affordable units.
During Monday’s debate, Reed told the representatives that “Affordable housing is something I deeply believe in, and I know my colleagues do as well. It’s something we want make happen in real ways, and many of our communities are working hard to make it happen in real ways. I think the more we allow the statute to be high jacked and undermined by predatory developers who have selfish goals in mind, the more it loses credibility,” she said.
As yesterday’s debate in the House concluded, Butler talked about the amount of compromise that occurred over the years to get the proposed legislation to this point. “This debate started with people on far sides of a line, and let me tell you, it took a lot of work just to get to the line to talk to each other, because there was a great divide between many different perspectives of this statute. But we worked on it, and we worked on it,” he said as he thanked people who were instrumental in the efforts.
State Sen. Ted Kennedy, Jr., who voted to override the Malloy veto, told the Eagle yesterday that he, too, was concerned about predatory developers.
“Part of our efforts to grow the state economy has been to promote the creation of affordable housing opportunities throughout Connecticut,” Kennedy said. “In order to create these opportunities we need to ensure that our affordable housing law is strong and without the loopholes that are currently being used by predatory developers to force through unwise developments. This new law closes those loopholes, allowing the affordable housing law to remain strong and credible so that it may be used to continue the noble goal of ensuring all Connecticut residents can afford a home for their families in a community where they live and work.”
Sean Scanlon, (D‑Guilford and a portion of Branford) was the only local legislator to vote against overriding the veto. He voted in favor of the legislation in May, but changed his vote yesterday. He represents Guilford along with Stony Creek and Pine Orchard in Branford.
“We need more affordable housing, not less,” Scanlon told the Eagle. “I didn’t feel like this bill was a positive step towards solving a big problem and at the end of the day, that’s what we ought to be doing for our young people, our seniors and the middle class folks like our teachers and firefighters who want to be able to live in the towns they work in but can’t currently afford to.”
Among the new provisions, the bill would make it easier for municipalities to qualify for a four-year moratorium by expanding the types of housing that count toward the moratorium. It also encourages towns to establish affordable housing incentive zones.
The state’s affordable housing statute says property must be “deed restricted” or federally-assisted to qualify as affordable housing — which means Branford only has 3.46 percent of qualified housing— well below the 10 percent quota required by the statute.
However, the South Central Regional Council of Governments shows that in 2015 Branford had 22 percent of homes that met the criteria of affordable housing for the 80 percent mark; and 12 percent for 50 percent mark. However, many of the homes don’t meet the state’s definition because they’re not deed-restricted.
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Right on, Lonnie!!!!! Shirley