In Illinois: an Affordable Housing Board in Name Only

"More than six years after it was created, a state [of Illinois] board designed to prod municipalities into building affordable housing has yet to hear one case," reports Natalie Moore.

"The Illinois Housing Appeals Board was established in 2009 as part of the Illinois Housing Planning and Appeal Act (2003)," adds Moore. That's the same rule that some affluent suburbs in the state flout without fear of reprisal, according to reports from earlier this year. State law requires cities with less than ten percent affordable housing to provide affordable housing plans to the state. The law also allows developers to appeal rejected affordable housing proposals with the Housing Appeals Board.

Board chair Warren Wolfson, a retired judge turned law professor, is quoted in the article saying that meetings involved the board sitting and staring at each other. According to the article, suburbs and towns undercut the board's authority invoking "home rule," which Moore defines as "the right to self-govern without state intervention."

The article includes more discussion of the consequences of the impotence of the board and, by extension, the law.