By The Miami Herald Editorial Board
For too long, the Florida Legislature has played a big, unfortunate role in creating the state’s affordable-housing crisis. In the next legislative session, which begins next month, it’s imperative that state lawmakers be a big part of the long-overdue solution.
Senate Bill 306 and House Bill 381 would mandate that lawmakers stop pilfering revenue from the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund. Money in the fund is supposed to be set aside to build affordable housing throughout the state. Unfortunately, that is not how it’s worked. For years, the Legislature has swept trust-fund money into the general-revenue bucket, and not just in lean years. The raids go on even when state revenue is abundant.
This needs to stop. And if Gov. Ron DeSantis provides the leadership and the Sadowski Coalition, comprising industry and business groups; faith-based organizations; and advocates for the elderly, veterans, homeless and those with special needs continues to make a persuasive case, the raids just might come to an end.
DeSantis already has shown an understanding of the critical need for working- and middle-class residents by including full funding for Sadowski in his proposed budget.
In the last legislative session, lawmakers swiped $125 million of the trust fund’s $332 million and put it into general revenue, even though DeSantis sought full funding. In the past 10 years, lawmakers have raided at least $2 billion from Sadowski.
State Sen. Annette Taddeo, a Miami-Dade Democrat, sees reason for hope. “For the first time we have a governor who is putting it in his budget,” she told the Editorial Board, “and the Senate is a fan of it.”
That means it’s up to Republican House Speaker Jose Oliva, also of Miami-Dade, to commit to working on behalf of shelter-poor constituents in his home county, and across the state. He should make this a priority, and push his House colleagues to get on board.
After all, Oliva’s county has been particularly hard hit. The Miami Herald’s series “Priced Out of Paradise” made clear just how acute the problem is: To rent a single-family home, one must earn at least $5,800 a month. That will get an apartment only in Brownsville, Liberty Square and Allapattah. This last is undergoing redevelopment that stands to make it difficult for current residents to stay put and for potential residents to afford the upscale housing slated for the area.
Just last year alone, according to Taddeo, Miami-Dade was poised to get $21 million for 2019-2020. “We got $2 million,” she said. At least some of the funds were diverted to the Panhandle, still is struggling to recover from Hurricane Michael, which dealt a powerful blow in 2018.
Still, the counties continue to be cheated out of affordable-housing money that could make a dent in the crisis. And the ripple effect is causing great damage: In Greater Miami, seniors are being ejected from apartments when rent is increased out of their reach; it’s harder to keep professionals, such as teachers; working families are pushed to homes farther away from their jobs, and public transportation doesn’t always offer a smooth and seamless ride.
It’s a shame that legislation even has to be put forth to state to obvious: Too many Floridians cannot afford a decent place to live. Lawmakers hold at least part of the solution in their hands, and they must use this valuable tool to its full advantage — for Floridians.
Article last accessed on January 6, 2020 here. A print-ready version is available here.