Florida Combines Workforce Housing Program with Rent Control Ban: Lessons for Illinois?
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Bisnow reports that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 102 into law on March 29, 2023. SB 102 does two things:
- It provides $711 in funding to support statewide development of affordable and workforce housing;
- It also bans rent control anywhere within the state of Florida.
The bill was widely supported in both the Florida House of Representatives and Senate, passing each state house by 103-6 and 40-0 margins, respectively.
The Bisnow article states: “The law includes $259M in funding for low-interest loans to developers building workforce housing; $252M for local governments to use as developer incentives to produce or preserve housing; $100M to provide down payment and closing cost assistance for first-time homebuyers in public service jobs like teachers, police officers and firefighters; and $100M toward loans intended to help developers close funding gaps created by the rapidly increasing construction cost environment.”
Contrast this legislation with what just happened in Springfield where a small but growing group of left-leaning legislators continue to focus their efforts on making it legal for local governments to enact rent control laws in the state.
Yes, it is true that the Illinois state government also passed property tax relief in 2021 to incentivize the creation of more affordable units (see related article in this Newsletter). But this appears to be the exception, not the rule. In Illinois, the momentum is still with those who would fight the free market and punish property owners instead of finding ways to use the market system to help developers build or renovate more affordable housing.
If the movement to allow the enactment of rent control in Illinois succeeds, this will only further impede the production of housing and drive up the cost of rent.
The only way to solve the affordable housing problem in Illinois and across the country is to build more housing. This is something they understand in Florida.
Illinois and Florida are very different states, and Governors Pritzker and DeSantis could not be more different politicians or have more opposing views on almost every issue. Despite these differences, this most recent legislative accomplishment in Florida is something Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Legislature could learn from and would be wise to emulate here in Illinois.
We do not need to pass a ban on rent control since it already exists. But we do need to consider proactive ways to increase the production of housing without dismantling the highly effective and efficient profit-motivated system already in place to create new housing.
The only way to solve the affordable housing problem in Illinois and across the country is to build more housing. This is something they understand in Florida. Let’s hope the Florida example can be a model for Illinois as well.
