El Mirage mayor cheers Sens. Kelly and Gallego, and passage of 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
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Alexis A. Hermosillo
Submitted photo/City of El Mirage
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OPINION — Long before a home is permitted or built, someone has imagined a life inside it.
Sometimes that dream arrives at 28. Sometimes at 68.
It may mean a first set of keys, a smaller home for retirement, a few quiet acres or remaining in a house that has grown unsafe without becoming any less loved.
Government encounters those dreams in another language: density, water, traffic, infrastructure, emergency response, construction costs and months of review. That language is technical because precision matters. Good policy must be fluent in both.
As mayor of El Mirage and a fifth-generation resident, I have watched the West Valley transform. Across America, communities are asking the same question: Can people still afford to stay where they want to grow?
No single law can answer that question, but the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, signed into law on July 11 and named for Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream, offers practical tools. It streamlines federal reviews for small and infill projects, supports pre-reviewed designs and authorizes up to $200 million annually to help communities increase housing supply. It expands whole-home repair assistance, strengthens rural and manufactured housing programs, encourages small-dollar mortgages and, with exceptions, limits additional single-family purchases by large institutional investors.
Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego deserve credit for helping advance it. Gallego also helped shape provisions through the Senate Banking Committee.
The law is not a complete answer. Faster processes cannot excuse poor planning. Every new home still depends upon water, roads, utilities, public safety and municipal finances. Careful review protects communities. Unnecessary delay only raises costs.
Good policy shows up in ordinary moments. In one home, boxes crowd the room as someone smiles and says, “We’re home.” In another, rain begins and no bucket is placed beneath the ceiling. One is the joy of arriving. The other, the relief of remaining.
Both are the American Dream.
Alexis A. Hermosillo is the mayor of El Mirage and a fifth-generation resident of the community. The views expressed are her own. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
home ownership,
American Dream,
affordability,
aging in place,
community growth,
density,
water,
traffic,
infrastructure,
emergency response,
construction costs,
review,
Alexis A. Hermosillo,
mayor,
El Mirage,
fifth-generation resident,
West Valley,
transform,
21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,
Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream,
bipartisan,
streamlines federal reviews,
small and infill projects,
supports pre-reviewed designs,
authorizes,
help communities,
increase housing supply,
expands,
whole-home repair assistance,
encourages,
small-dollar mortgages,
limits,
single-family purchases by large institutional investors,
Sen. Mark Kelly,
Sen. Ruben Gallego
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