The people of Glendale and Maryvale sent me to the Arizona State Capitol to work toward solutions to a myriad of issues. Perhaps the concern I hear most often is that rent is too high and people living on the streets need support. I am proud to say I worked with my colleagues and Gov. Katie Hobbs to pass a bipartisan budget this month with historic investments in affordable housing and a brand-new homeless services fund.
Arizona is indeed in a housing crisis fueled, in part, by a housing shortage. According to the Arizona Department of Housing, we are short 250,000 housing units. We see humanitarian consequences as people struggle to pay rent, young families are unable to become homeowners, and seniors on fixed incomes are living on the streets. We see economic consequences as the state loses an estimated $35.6 billion in economic activity every year due to housing affordability issues.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, homelessness across the country increased by less than 1% between 2020 and 2022. But in Arizona? Homelessness increased by an astounding 23%.
The Arizona Republic found that Maricopa County residents are getting evicted at higher rates than the years immediately before the pandemic and there are no signs of evictions slowing down. The ZIP code with the most eviction filings – 85301 – is right here in Glendale and has one of the worst rent-burden rates in the entire nation.
The recently-passed state budget includes $150 million into the Housing Trust Fund. That’s more money than we’ve invested in the fund for the past 10 years combined. This money can be used for the development of new low-income housing complexes, rental assistance, and eviction prevention programs.
The budget also includes $60 million into a new Homeless Shelters and Services Fund. Additional monies will go toward mobile home residents who are forced to relocate or abandon their homes, veteran and military housing, and transitional housing for people returning from prison.
This unprecedented investment in affordable housing is the result of grassroots organizers who've advocated for the needs of our community for decades. They fought to hold elected leaders accountable to our duty to deliver for the people. We did this together.
Our work isn’t done. The funds are one-time and it is critical that Legislators designate a permanent source of revenue for the Housing Trust Fund. We also need policy change to address Arizona’s housing shortage.
Common-sense reforms to restrictive zoning policies at the municipal level could expedite the development of new housing, including naturally affordable housing types that have been regulated out of existence in many cities like casitas, duplexes, and manufactured homes.
The state should do more to foster permanent supportive housing models that help people transition out of homelessness and provide them with wrap-around services to encourage self-sufficiency.
We must make Arizona’s state low-income housing tax credit program a permanent program to encourage development of new low-income housing, like Centerline on Glendale. This new complex on 67th and Glendale avenues will be completed in 2024 and will bring 368 new affordable housing units to seniors, low-income families, and people transitioning out of homelessness.
Ensuring every Arizonan has a safe, affordable place to call home is a matter of economic stability, public safety, and community well-being. I will continue to find bipartisan solutions to make this vision a reality.
Rep. Analise Ortiz serves the residents of Glendale and Maryvale in Legislative District 24. She can be reached at analise.ortiz@azleg.gov
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