ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATS: Landmark Affordable Housing Reform Plan Signed into Law

 LANDMARK AFFORDABLE HOUSING REFORM PLAN SIGNED INTO LAW

Bill Implements Most Comprehensive Reform  Of State's Affordable Housing Laws in Over Two Decades

(TRENTON) - Landmark legislation reforming the state's affordable housing program by implementing more equitable housing practices and increasing affordable housing availability across the state was signed into law today by Governor Jon S. Corzine during a ceremony in Mount Laurel, the South Jersey community at the historic heart of the affordable housing issue.

The new law was sponsored by Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr., Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman, Assembly Speaker Pro-Tempore Jerry Green, Assemblymen Tom Giblin and Albert Coutinho, and Assemblywoman Mila Jasey. It was championed in the Senate by Senator Ray Lesniak (D-Union).

"New Jersey's affordable housing laws have failed to live up to the promise of providing homes for low- and moderate-income residents while having the insidious side-effect of concentrating poverty in our inner cities," said Speaker Roberts (D-Camden). "New Jerseyans need homes they can afford and jobs they can reach. Today we are transforming the state's almost barren affordable housing landscape from one of lost opportunities to one of hope and promise for thousands of families."

"This legislation will provide affordable housing for tens of thousands of New Jersey residents and promote smart growth and economic development," said Senator Lesniak. "A win-win-win for New Jersey."

The measure (A-500) overhauls the state's affordable housing laws for the first time in over two decades to provide more low- and middle-income New Jersey families with access to housing in communities across the state. 

Roberts said he took action to craft the new law following reports that indicated many New Jersey families are pulling up stakes and moving elsewhere because they can no longer afford to live in the state.

"The time has finally come for New Jersey to open the door to affordable housing for the countless working families who are in need of a reasonably priced place to call home," said Watson Coleman (D-Mercer).  "Every family deserves to have a choice in where they live and access to a home that is within their means. New Jersey's housing policy must be something more than two options: either you can afford a roof over your head or you move to another state."

"Low-income New Jersey families are burdened by some of the highest rents and housing costs in the nation," said Green (D-Union). "We have a moral responsibility to countless New Jerseyans - disabled residents, families living on limited incomes, and senior citizens - to ensure access to housing is safe and affordable."

The multi-faceted law is aimed at increasing production of affordable housing and easing the ability of working families to secure an affordable place to live.  Specifically, the law will:

• Abolish "regional contribution agreements," (RCAs) ending the practice of allowing municipalities to duck their affordable housing responsibilities while generating new funding through a 2.5 percent fee on nonresidential development. These funds may be used for new construction or rehabilitation of affordable housing units;
• Establish a 20-percent affordable housing set aside for all state-assisted development projects - including smart growth areas and transit villages;
• Promote the production of housing units by setting-aside 13 percent of all affordable housing for families earning less than 30 percent of the state's median income and;
• Require one-for-one replacement of deed-restricted affordable housing units lost through redevelopment;
• Create an "Affordable Housing Trust Fund;"
• Require towns to commit municipal housing trust fund dollars to affordable housing within their borders;
• Allows municipalities in the Highlands, Pinelands, Meadowlands, and Fort Monmouth and Atlantic City regions to collectively provide affordable housing to promote targeted growth based on employment opportunities and transportation;
• Mandate municipalities to provide density bonuses to developers constructing inclusionary developments;
• Permit private developers of inclusionary development projects to compete for federal low-income tax credits;
• Require all state agencies, when creating new rules, to include a housing affordability impact statement in their rule publication;
• Establish a state Housing Commission charged with developing an annual strategic housing plan and submitting annual reports to the Legislature;
• Ensure a better system for tracking progress on affordable housing through regular publication of statistical reports; and
• Codify the vacant land adjustment which allows COAH to adjust municipal affordable housing obligations downward if a municipality has insufficient vacant land to satisfy its obligation. 

"We must give state officials, towns and developers every tool possible to promote the construction of new affordable housing," said Giblin (D-Essex).  "By working together, the public and private sector can make the dream of home ownership a reality for working families.

"New Jersey cannot continue as a state comprised of towns where a lack of affordable housing blocks police, firefighters, or teachers from living in the communities they serve," said Coutinho (D-Essex).  "This overhaul of the state's affordable housing laws is long overdue."

The legislation was crafted after a review of housing policies in other states and following discussion with the Department of Community Affairs, other legislators, and input from a wide array of organizations, including: New Jersey Regional Coalition, Housing and Community Development Network, Coalition for Affordable Housing and Environment, Homes for New Jersey, New Jersey Apartment Association, New Jersey Builders Association, New Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, and New Jersey League of Municipalities.

"Thousands of working New Jersey families spend upwards of one-third of their hard earned incomes just to keep a roof over their heads," said Jasey (D-Essex).  "New Jersey must make significant changes to its affordable housing policies to bring real relief to the many New Jersey families who are struggling to keep up with the ever-growing cost of housing."

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