A Win for Local Decision Making:  Governor Vetoes Overreaching Housing Bill!

Solving economic disparity and housing challenges in Connecticut doesn’t mean buying everyone a subsidized home. But it does start with creating opportunity—and that’s exactly where HB 5002 failed.

Connecticut is facing real housing challenges, at all levels. But instead of crafting policy that brings hope, support, and upward mobility—or even reducing red tape—HB 5002 doubles down on dysfunction. According to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM)—the same office driving this bill—HB 5002 is supposed to be the answer.  But this bill was fraught with overreach and bad policy.  The consultant hired was ECONorthwest, a firm based in Portland, Oregon. What do they know about Connecticut’s housing realities? Are they a suburb of New York? Do they have towns that are both rural and densely populated? Do they understand the diversity of our 169 municipalities? Clearly not. Their report lacked any meaningful understanding of Connecticut’s unique zoning, infrastructure, and housing landscape.

Let’s be clear about what HB 5002 did not do.

It did not provide job training or economic growth opportunities to help people get back on their feet.
It did not fund wraparound care for those experiencing homelessness.
It did not remove costly red tape that holds back development.
It did not create pathways out of poverty.

What it did was reward large developers. It granted “as-of-right” development privileges for office-to-housing conversions and in transit districts—bypassed local planning, zoning, and safety reviews. It eliminated parking requirements for buildings with 24 or fewer units and severely limits them for larger developments.

This may sound good to someone who believes everyone will bike or take the train—but families live in the real world. And have you been on I-95 lately?  Folks that live in our cities and towns drive to jobs, take kids to events, buy groceries, and go to doctors. Have you tried parking in downtown Stamford or Norwalk lately? Now imagine doubling the density and removing parking. That’s not a solution—that’s unsafe chaos. And it won’t drive economic growth; it will worsen congestion and safety.

The other thing this bill did was require towns to increase their affordable housing units to an unsupportable amount-another bad idea from the consulting firm from Oregon.  The state says Norwalk and Darien must build 469 and 491new affordable and family-sized units respectively. But the only financially viable path for developers is to build 4,000–5,000 units per town, with 86–90% being market rate.  These ratios don’t work. Even if the numbers could pencil out—which they don’t—where exactly would you build 5,000 new units in a town like Darien, which is already 98% developed?

This bill ignores the realities of land availability, infrastructure, and basic economics. And that’s what happens when a Portland firm tries to apply generic models to a state they clearly don’t understand.

At the end of the day, HB 5002 doesn’t solve homelessness or housing shortages—it strangles real solutions with unrealistic mandates, speculative modeling, and a fundamental misunderstanding of how Connecticut communities’ function. It burdens towns with impossible expectations and offers struggling families no real support.

I’m relieved the Governor has acknowledged that HB 5002 is unworkable and will VETO this bill!

Connecticut needs a housing strategy that lifts people up—offering economic opportunity, targeted services, and community-specific solutions. A plan that cuts red tape to towns, respects local decision making.  We can do better!