Capitol Briefs: Lawmakers, advocates again call for affordable housing
tax credit
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[April 18, 2024]
By DILPREET RAJU
Capitol News Illinois
draju@capitolnewsillinois.com
Housing advocates are renewing a push to fund a $20 million state
affordable housing tax credit in the upcoming state budget.
Supporters of the “Build Illinois Homes Tax Credit Act,” modeled after a
federal tax credit program, claimed it would result in over 1,000
affordable housing units being built over its first six years. The push
for the measure, contained in House Bill 4909 and Senate Bill 3233,
comes one year after a similar to appropriate $35 million in tax credits
failed to advance.
Its supporters said the money would replace federal pandemic-era funding
that went to the Illinois Housing Development Authority over the last
three years but has since run out.
Allison Clements, the executive director of the Illinois Housing
Council, a housing association representing almost 300 businesses and
nonprofits, said is designed to provide “immediate attention” to the
state’s “housing crisis.”
That sentiment was echoed by HB 4909’s chief sponsor Rep. Dagmara Avelar,
D-Bolingbrook, who said her constituents tell her they are worried about
being priced out of their homes or apartments. The program would help
build up to 1,150 affordable homes and apartments within six years,
Avelar said.
Illinois has a shortage of close to 300,000 affordable rental homes,
according to a report published last month by Housing Action Illinois,
an affordable housing advocacy group.
Clements said the tax credit “is not going to meet the entire needs of
the state” but is needed to maintain what the IHDA has been receiving.
“Affordable housing is not a Democrat issue, it’s not a Republican
issue, it’s an issue about our constituents,” Avelar said. “Investors
will only receive the state tax credit after construction is complete
and qualified tenants move in with affordable rents.”
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Corporate ownership has affected rents, which is why affordable units
are needed more than ever, she added.
“We have also seen a very troubling – and skyrocketing – rate of
corporate landlords who are buying homes, apartments and who are pretty
much increasing (the cost of) rental units to the point where people are
being priced out,” Avelar said.
Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, who is the chief sponsor of SB 3233, said
the tax credit is just one way of adding more affordable housing in the
state.
“We have huge needs (for affordable housing), you've seen this talked
about all the time. We talked about a ballot initiative in Chicago,
well, this is another way we can actually deal with housing,” he said.
This year’s push also has backing from the Illinois Manufacturers
Association and the Laborers’ International Union of North America
Midwest Region, two influential groups within the Statehouse.
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Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, speaks to the crowd at Chicago’s
Federal Plaza for the End Overdose Now rally on Aug. 28, 2023. Ford
brought the idea of an overdose prevention site to Illinois
lawmakers during a Wednesday news conference. (Capitol News Illinois
photo by Dilpreet Raju)
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Overdose prevention strategies
Harm reduction advocates and multiple House members called for more
state funding towards evidence-based solutions “beyond naloxone and safe
supplies.”
Among those solutions are overdose prevention sites – a designated
brick-and-mortar location where people with substance use disorders can
receive clean supplies and use drugs safely in the presence of public
health workers who ensure people who potentially overdose do not die.
Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, described rising overdose numbers as an
“international problem” impacting all kinds of communities. Ford is the
chief sponsor of House Bill 2, which provides the framework for an
overdose prevention site in Chicago and has languished in the Rules
Committee for almost one year.
Aisha Betancourt-Esquivel became an advocate for harm reduction in 2019
after her daughter, BreAna Betancourt-Esquivel, died of combined drug
toxicity at 25 years old.
“We all have loved ones that are worthy of all possible avenues to
recovery,” Betancourt-Esquivel said.
“I stand here to ask for your strong consideration and support of an
overdose prevention site because an overdose prevention site could have
helped my daughter,” she added. “Yes, it's a wild idea but guess what?
The drugs will still be here, we just want to keep these people alive.”
Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, said she represents “hundreds of
people who want to stop using drugs, but they live in fear and stigma.”
“With the exception of naloxone and safe supplies, evidence-based harm
reduction interventions have been left out of our behavioral health and
public health funding streams in Illinois,” said LaPointe, who is a
former social worker and current chair of the House Mental Health and
Addiction Committee.
Rep. Camille Lilly, D-Chicago, said she used her naloxone training two
separate times to assist men who overdosed in her district. Rep. Will
Guzzardi, D-Chicago, said he had a “dear friend” die from an overdose
before he became a legislator.
“I share your passion for this issue, I share the frustration I'm sure
you all experience at times,” Guzzardi said. “Why can't we just get it
done? I'm sure people in this room are feeling that way today.”
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is
distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide.
It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert
R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the
Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial
Association. |