This post is a part of Housing Affordability Institute’s ongoing State Legislatures and Housing Reform project. Throughout 2023, the Institute will monitor how state lawmakers are working to address their states’ housing challenges.
Legislative leaders and governors across the nation continue to press forward on substantive housing reform initiatives. In the first seven weeks of 2023, legislation advanced in several states, while new housing reform bills were introduced in others.
Arizona: The first new addition to the growing list of states taking action on housing, SB 1117 would enable smaller lots and reasonable setbacks, plus ensure municipalities provide areas for duplexes and multi-family developments. The bill would also eliminate aesthetic mandates and government control of interior home design for cities with a population greater than 25,000.
California: State legislators have until Friday, Feb. 17, to introduce bills for this session. More information will be available following this legislative deadline and legislative committees begin to act on introduced bills. Major bills introduced so far include SB91 and AB11.
Montana: With housing reform as one of Gov. Giafonete’s top priorities, housing experts converged in Helena, Mont., this month as SB 245 (the state’s zoning modernization legislation) cleared the Senate Local Government Committee.
Virginia: House Joint Resolution 507 was introduced, which directs the Virginia Housing Commission to “streamline and enhance predictability in local development review processes and alleviate the effects of local policies or ordinances that contribute to increased housing costs and constrain the supply of affordable and workforce housing.”
Washington: HB 1110 / SB 5190, the state’s zoning modernization bills, and HB 1245 / SB 5364, a bill enabling lot splits, cleared their initial committees in early February.
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