DeStefano Offers Solutions to Affordable Housing Crisis

June 28, 2006

Hartford - John DeStefano, Democratic candidate for governor, offered solutions for Connecticut's affordable housing crisis at the Connecticut Housing Coalition's Spring Membership meeting at the Lyceum in Hartford.

"There is only so much that can be accomplished within the borders of one community - lack of affordable housing is a regional problem," said DeStefano. His approach would establish a program to create a housing plan which encompasses low-income families, disabled persons, and the elderly, restore desperately needed funding, and develop state housing projects.

Connecticut faces a lack of adequate funding and rental units for affordable housing. Today, 1 in 5 families have difficulty affording housing in Connecticut, and 257,000 households pay more than 30 percent of their family's income on housing. Despite this, there have been no real capital investments in the state's projects for a decade and the Rental Assistance Program (RAP), which provides vouchers to help lower-income families pay for housing, continuously experiences cut-backs.

Increased funding for affordable housing results has far-reaching benefits for Connecticut. Lower-income families can spend more of their income on education and health care, and better provide for their children. In addition, when Connecticut residents cannot afford housing they often choose to leave the state. This emigration threatens businesses' viability and their ability to attract employees. Between 1990 and 2000, Connecticut lost about 50% of its workers ages 20-34 to other states. The Center for Community Change found that each $10 million of public investment in affordable housing generates 1,901 new jobs which pay $60,581,500 in total wages (2001). Adequate funding will help foster job growth and benefit businesses across the state.

As governor, DeStefano will:

- Restore funding to the Rental Assistance Program (RAP), which provides vouchers to help lower-income families pay for housing.

- Create an annual state funding stream similar to the federal HOPE VI program to renovate and redevelop non-federal affordable housing developments in Connecticut. This will ensure that we no longer see conversions of these units to market-rate and will ensure that we update this valuable stock.

- Expand on our success in New Haven where we have built over 300 affordable homeownership units. This form of affordable housing ensures that working families are retained as the backbone of our communities.

- Working with affordable housing advocates, DeStefano will charge state agencies with establishing a real state wide plan to target affordable housing and identify gaps where we lack quality affordable housing for families.

- Build calculations of real variable costs like energy costs into all state affordable housing programs.

- End the false choice between providing sufficient amounts of affordable housing and rebuilding neighborhoods. We can do both by investing sufficiently in not only quality new and renovated affordable units but also in the human infrastructure necessary to ensure real mixed income neighborhoods. With good schools, quality youth programs, and investments in public safety, everyone will choose benefit.

- Specifically target new dollars to build housing for special needs population. We have seen in New Haven how combining housing for the disabled or recently homeless with the services they need, welcomes people with dignity into our communities.

- Enact meaningful property tax reform to end Connecticut's over-reliance on the property tax, thus ending the disincentive to build affordable housing.

- Adopt stricter anti-predatory laws, as outlined in DeStefano's anti-predatory lending policy.

Under DeStefano's leadership, New Haven has experienced great gains in combating the problem of affordable housing. In 2004 alone, 2,093 public housing units were built in New Haven, and 1,193 state administered Section 8 vouchers and 4,520 HANH Section 8 vouchers were dispensed. While the city has only about 3.5 percent of the state's population, New Haven has over 10 percent of the state's supply of affordable housing.

DeStefano was joined by Seila Mosquera, Executive Director of Mutual Housing Association of South Central Connecticut and a CHC board member, and Carla Weil, the Executive Director of the Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund and incoming board chair.