Statement from Rep. Tony Scott, Housing Committee Ranking Member, on HB 5002 vote
Housing Committee Ranking Member Rep. Tony Scott, R-Monroe, made the following remarks on an omnibus housing bill approved on Tuesday:
A bill that was 91 words when it left the Housing Committee, and was purportedly to address homelessness, ended up being 92 pages by the time it was raised for a vote in the House of Representatives.
Fair Share goes down a path that mandates outlandish affordable housing unit targets for our municipalities. This burden is not just a number on a piece of paper. Easton is part of my district, and this methodology says it should add 4,200 units. A town of 7,500 people. If you look over these 169 numbers, you’ll find a lot of embarrassing numbers that make those figures not worth the paper they’re on.
There are no teeth in this bill to force municipalities to comply, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be right back here next year or the year after adding that in. Right now, though, municipalities would be deprioritized for funding if they aren’t in compliance.
This bill also mandates that 30 towns, based on population, will have to find a way to find volunteers to fill a fair rent commission. My hometown of Monroe has vacancies on both Republican and Democrat sides of the aisle. We have six rental units up for grabs in the whole town of Monroe right now. If you join a regional fair rent commission, you’re not having a say. By turning that little control over to a COG or to a different, larger regional group, you lose out in that way.
Another contentious portion of the bill would have direct cash payments sent to a certain group of renters under a new pilot program. The cash payments would be made to eligible state Rental Assistance Program participants, rather than sending them a housing choice voucher. Voucher money goes directly to the housing provider, which has a level of accountability and oversight.
I’m disappointed by the mandates on towns in my district that are included in this bill. I’m frustrated that it fails to truly address the growing problem of homelessness facing our state.
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