Proposed 'Fair Share' Would Assess and Allocate Affordable Housing in Connecticut

Ginny Monk shares news of the proposed "Fair Share" law under consideration in the Connecticut General Assembly.

"Under the proposed 'Fair Share' law, the state Office of Policy and Management would assess the need for affordable housing in different parts of Connecticut," reports Monk. "Then, towns would share the responsibility to meet that need."

According to Monk, "a town’s share would be based on its wealth, median income compared to other towns in the region, percentage of housing stock that’s multifamily housing, and the poverty rate."

The bill would require local governments to craft new plans for building affordable housing every ten years—the state of California's Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process works similarly, but on eight-year cycles. The RHNA process has been subjected to repeated reform to add teeth to the law in recent years.

As noted by Monk, Connecticut's "Fair Share" bill is part of a larger package of zoning reform bills known as Growing Together Connecticut, spearheaded by 30 partnering organizations including the Open Communities Alliance. The Connecticut General Assembly passed a landmark zoning reform bill, HB 6107, in June 2021.