New Ballot Initiative Seeks To Permanently Fund Affordable Housing
Floridians for Affordable Housing sponsors the bill.
Scripps OTT
and last updated 2021-07-14 22:39:47-04
LEE COUNTY, Fla. â Affordable housing is in high demand, so we are following a Florida group that hopes to redirect money to make more affordable housing available.
The Floridians for Housing political action committee is sponsoring a citizenâs initiative that could permanently secure funding for affordable housing.
Diana Jones works for the Lee County Housing Authority and says families here are in dire need.
âIâve had some that say you wouldnât understand, but I do understand because I am a single mother. Iâve had the same struggles, so I do know what they are going through,â she said. âBut I also know how to help them get past it, so they can experience that better future for themselves and for their children.â
Published: June 3, 2021 5:09 PM EDT
Updated: June 3, 2021 9:01 PM EDT
Southwest Florida has an unwanted title. We’re one of the worst places to find affordable housing in the country. The pandemic only made it worse, exposing low wages, raising home prices, and cutting funding.
For many people, their reality is having to choose between paying rent, paying for food, paying to get to work.
Drew Broderick had to make that choice living in Fort Myers, even while he made $15 an hour working in construction. Now he’s outspoken about finding solutions.
“I was homeless for over seven years. And I had a job the whole time, just couldn’t afford the rents,” Broderick said. “It’s just such a problem, you see it everywhere.”
Panama City officials tour one of the city s new steel panel homes in Glenwood on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020.
State lawmakers this year permanently slashed the affordable housing trust fund s revenue share, while also passing a guarantee that housing dollars would never again pay for other expenses.
“It’s going to be recurring revenue not subject to sweep,” said Jaimie Ross, director of the Florida Housing Coalition, which has advocated for an end to lawmakers’ tradition of diverting dollars away from state and local affordable housing trust funds. “And that actually is a very big win for housing.”
Still, the amount the legislature allocated to housing programs - $209 million - has some advocates displeased. That’s because they’d originally asked for twice that amount. Gov. Ron DeSantis’s proposed budget included $423 million to fully fund the state’s affordable housing needs.
Updated Apr. 30
TALLAHASSEE â Eight months ago, state lawmakers were fretting about the stateâs budget. With millions of Floridians out of work, sales tax revenues dried up and state agencies were facing deep cuts.
But in a dramatic turnaround, sales tax revenues rebounded and Congress sent Florida billions in stimulus dollars, allowing lawmakers to go on a spending spree this year.
State lawmakers on Friday signed off on a record $101.5 billion on the state budget that has left both Republicans and Democrats happy â mostly.
Flush with $10.2 billion American Rescue Plan funding from Congress, Republicans are using it to cross off longstanding issues and plug holes in the budget created by the pandemic.
Jacki Dezelski
A few weeks ago the Manatee Chamber hosted a presentation by Dr. Jerry Parrish, the Florida Chamber Foundation s chief economist, to share important economic data with business leaders. Dr. Parrish shared insightful research and statistics that provided a helpful lens through which to view our economic recovery. While there are still challenges to overcome, I believe we are well-positioned to capitalize on progress across several fronts.
Manatee County’s unemployment rate has been tracking lower than the state average. Overall, Florida gained more high-wage jobs than the U.S. average in 2020 and Manatee County’s gains are some of the best in the state at more than 13% as of October. We saw a notable bump in jobs gains with earlier rounds of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and there is optimism that the new round of PPP will help on the employment front again, as designed.