South Florida — and the rest of the state — needs Gov. Ron DeSantis to protect the Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Really, we just need the governor to keep his word.
Unlike his predecessors, DeSantis proposed a 2019-2020 state budget earlier this year that finally left the trust fund untouched so the money can do what it was designed to do: make affordable housing a reality.
But lawmakers pushed back. Instead of sending aid to Floridians struggling to pay rent and household survival costs, legislators voted to continue their shameful raid on this fund — this time $125 million of the $332 million dollars that were available.
While lawmakers sent $200.6 million to housing, the lion’s share of that — $115 million — will go directly to the Panhandle for Hurricane Michael victims, leaving the rest of the state’s local housing agencies with the scraps.
Hurricane victims need the help. But far more families are being devastated by the daily struggle with wage stagnation and rising housing costs as they try to put a roof over their loved ones’ heads and find a way to eat.
The good news is that there is enough to go around — if legislators would just stop the inhumane practice of diverting funds from those who need it most. The Sadowski fund finances vital affordable housing programs that help retrofit and renovate aging homes, construct affordable housing units and help Floridians become first-time homeowners.
For many people, Florida is becoming unaffordable. And judging by DeSantis’ budget proposal, he understands that. Most legislators do not.
DeSantis needs to start raising hell from the bully pulpit Floridians entrusted him, telling legislators that affordable housing funds are off limits and that he’ll back a measure to make these annual raids illegal, or extremely difficult.
He can support the handful of politicians fighting to safeguard the trust. South Florida Reps. Tina Polsky and Kionne McGhee, along with Sen. Lori Berman, introduced bills this session to put up some guard-rails against the fund’s annual looting, which amounts to more than $2 billion over the years.
The House version called for state agencies to justify why and how they needed the diverted funds. If agencies couldn’t prove the money was used for the intended purpose, they would have to pay the money back to the trust within five years.
These bills died because they needed a firm, loud voice to cut through the noise of irresponsible excuses from lawmakers. That voice needs to come from DeSantis.
The idea of protecting a trust fund has precedent.
In 2010, lawmakers voted to prevent money from being diverted out of the Division of Licensing Trust Fund, which pays the cost of processing concealed weapon permits.
The bill passed unanimously in the House and by 31-9 in the Senate. If we can protect a fund for guns, we can protect a fund for housing.
In South Florida, affordable housing — for renters and homebuyers alike — has reached a crisis level.
The South Florida metro area, including West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, is among the least affordable for low-income citizens trying to rent a home, according to the latest report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. It found only 22 affordable rental homes for every 100 low-income families.
A report released last month by urban researchers at Florida International University found that South Florida’s median home value was $409,000, making it the country’s 11th most-expensive metro area.
About four in 10 South Florida homeowners are “cost-burdened,” meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. About one-third spend more than 35 percent of their income on housing, according to the FIU researchers.
Across the state, just shy of a million Floridians pay more than half of their income on housing. Some 84,000 people statewide are estimated to be homeless and thousands of families live in motels or with family members.
So why do legislators keep raiding this affordable housing fund?
Maybe the better question is why haven’t previous governors done more to stop this practice?
It is not illegal for legislators to divert these funds, but it’s immoral to seize funds from those who are struggling. DeSantis can put down a marker, telling legislators to stop robbing a trust fund designed specifically to help the most vulnerable among us.
DeSantis vowed to Floridians during his inauguration speech in January that he would leave the state better off than he found it.
It’s time to make good on that promise and start fighting this fight.
Article last accessed here on May 7, 2019. A print-ready version is available here.