Face the Facts: Bill Aims to Combat Connecticut Housing Crisis

By some estimates, Connecticut needs at least 80,000 homes and apartments to try to solve the housing crisis.

For decades, voters in the suburbs fought against new apartment complexes and many builders say they can't afford to have a smaller return on their big investments.

Would working across town lines make a difference?

NBC Connecticut's Mike Hydeck spoke with State Representative Cristin McCarthy Vahey (D - Fairfield) about what's currently being done. She's also on the Planning and Development Committee.

Mike Hydeck: So this is something that's in your purview on a regular basis. This all has to do with local housing authorities, right, having to work across state lines or town lines, how would something like that work?

Cristin McCarthy Vahey: So the bill actually originated in the housing committee. And I'd like to give credit to the late Q Williams, who was actually a big proponent of this policy. And it would allow housing authorities to actually work in neighboring, or in this case, the bill doesn't actually limit the geography, to other communities who either may not have a housing authority, or be able to also work in a community that even does have a housing authority.

Mike Hydeck: So they could work together across town lines. So for example, you're from Fairfield. Bridgeport's right next door. They could always use more affordable housing. Would the housing authority from Bridgeport come into Fairfield or vice versa? How would something like that work where the rubber actually meets the road?

Cristin McCarthy Vahey: So one of the things that happened is when the bill was referred from Housing to Planning and Development, the bill was changed a little bit to say that a community would actually have to affirmatively agree to have that housing authority from another community.

Mike Hydeck: So Fairfield would say, 'sure Bridgeport, come on over.' It has to be written down somewhere that there was an agreement?

Cristin McCarthy Vahey: And some folks are actually not so happy with that change. Because there's resistance, there's a lot of resistance. You know, for me, the ability for a housing authority to come in puts them on more level footing with other developers, whether nonprofit or for profit, and it actually creates some competition, that I think is a good thing.

Mike Hydeck: And so what are you getting for pushback? It seems as if like, I mean, Connecticut has 169 cities and towns. We want to control our own little fiefdom, is that what you're hearing or is it something else? Is there a financial reason?

Cristin McCarthy Vahey: Absolutely. That is part of it. It's that we and local communities want to be able to say what does and doesn't happen. But I think what's important to note is that a housing authority is not that different than either a for or nonprofit developer, except for the fact that housing authorities can have the ability to issue bonds and have different financing opportunities. And that gives them the opportunity to provide a broader range of affordable housing, deeply affordable housing, and not just that 80% of area median income that some of the developers are using when they're using that 8-30g.

Mike Hydeck: So the state guideline is, you know, there are guidelines but really, they're kind of just suggested. And when people say, 'Well, you know, we're trying and there's a big list,' like Connecticut Mirror does a regular report on it, about how many towns are getting close, to even 10%, much less 20%. Should there be more teeth in something like that, do you think?

Cristin McCarthy Vahey: Well, I think what you said at the beginning is absolutely true. The bottom line is we don't have enough housing. We don't have enough housing period. You know, by some accounts, the Fairfield, Norwalk, Bridgeport Metropolitan Statistical Area has the lowest vacancy rate in the nation for multi-family units.

Mike Hydeck: So many people moved in after the pandemic from New York was part of it.

Cristin McCarthy Vahey: That's right, and we haven't been building. So we actually need to build at all levels. This housing authority proposal will actually address the need that is by some estimates, right, 80 to 84,000 units that we're short, particularly for those who can't afford to pay the kind of rents that we're seeing right now.

Mike Hydeck: Now, there are some people who are against this proposal. There's more than a few of them, not just the cities and towns, your colleagues in the legislature as well. Tony Hwang is one of them. He's saying the way it is, it's too loosely written, meaning if other cities can opt in or opt out, most of them are going to choose to opt out, and it's not going to be very effective. How do you respond to that?

Cristin McCarthy Vahey: Well, I think I acknowledge the changes in the bill that were made do make it so that it's a little bit harder to make this happen. But I think that we need to be able to take some steps. Again, this is really a bill that provides competition. So even if you have housing authorities in neighboring communities, they then have to compete with the other housing authority, potentially, which, you know, in some ways forces housing authorities to up their game.

Mike Hydeck: Given the growing surplus is still happening, it seems like we're expecting it to peter out, but every quarter or every, you know, half of year, we're getting another big number coming into the state coffers. Should the state find another way to subsidize the percentage of low-income housing in a brand new, big development?

Cristin McCarthy Vahey: So funding is a critical piece of this. The governor proposed $600 million in funding in the bond commission just yesterday, $100 million in funding. But when you look at the cost of developing housing, especially in Connecticut, and especially where I live in Fairfield County, it's really exorbitant. So we've got to use all the tools available to do that. We have to look at those funding sources. We have to look at how we incentivize. We have to look at working together because you're right in the sense that housing when we look at it town by town, realistically people look at regions when they move into communities. So I think we have to address all those tools, including zoning as well.

Mike Hydeck: Last question. One of the major problems that Connecticut, and these two can be linked, the governor's linked them before as well. We have a lot of jobs to fill. And if you need new people that come in and fill these jobs, they need somewhere to live. So should big companies like the defense contractors or some of the tech firms that come in, should they be a part of the solution?

Cristin McCarthy Vahey: Absolutely. We're gonna need everybody at the table to be able to address this because it is about our economy. It is about how we sustain our future. It's about the environment and our public health. You know, I co chair the public health committee and when people have to live so far away from where they work, then we're just adding to air pollution as well. We have some of the worst air in the nation. So everybody needs to come to the table for this.