Bipartisan Affordable Housing Bill Passes Senate Community Affairs  

Today, the Florida Chamber of Commerce commended the Florida Senate Committee on Community Affairs for voting favorably on bipartisan affordable housing legislation that would prohibit the sweep of the State and Local Housing Trust Fund. The legislation, Senate Bill 874, sponsored by Senator Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples), is slated to be heard next in the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development.

“Attainable housing is a key ingredient to meet the needs of Florida’s growing workforce. Ensuring workers have access to affordable housing will help our economy to continue growing, and the Florida Chamber of Commerce thanks members of the Senate Community Affairs Committee for protecting this important program,” said David Hart, Executive Vice President, Florida Chamber of Commerce.

The Florida Chamber Foundation’s Florida 2030 research project— a once-a-decade benchmarking report looking at the fundamentals of the state and planning for future changes and disruptions— provides a more in-depth analysis on the need for affordable and attainable housing in order to secure Florida’s future. As part of the Florida 2030 research project, the Florida Chamber Foundation visited 67 counties and engaged more than 10,000 Floridians in town hall conversations. One issue universally identified as crisis across the state was the availability of attainable housing, particularly for critical workers.

Additionally, during the Florida Chamber Foundation’s annual Economic Outlook Summit last week, Florida Chamber Foundation Chief Economist, Dr. Jerry Parrish, identified affordable housing as one of Florida’s constraining variables to economic growth.

A statement on the need for attainable housing, prepared for today’s committee meeting by Tony Carvajal can be found here.

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