With the new Ohio General Assembly sworn in, different interests have already rolled out what they plan to push lawmakers for this year and next.
A coalition of two dozen business and community organizations who want to see housing policies become bigger priorities rolled out their pitch to the legislature in December. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, and Habitat for Humanity, among others, collaborated on Home Matters to Ohio. The plan includes 11 legislative proposals.
Tony Long, general counsel for the chamber, said in a December interview he fears some Ohio communities’ zoning codes could hinder possible housing projects or price residents or altogether. Long would like to see the state take action on that front, he said, while still affording jurisdictions home rule.
“Some kind of a state fund that’s a carrot for you to come to the table and say, ‘Hey, look, our zoning code’s from the 1950s, we don’t have the technical expertise out in our community. Could you help us?’” Long said.
Other proposals in the plan include boosting housing tax credits for low income Ohioans and those benefiting single-family projects, creating new programs for infrastructure and the workforce and getting serious about property tax reform.
With valuations rising fast, homeowners across the state are feeling a financial squeeze, which trickles to renters as well, but lawmakers sent little to the governor on property taxes last year—some waiting on recommendations from the state’s property tax review and reform joint committee, which released its findings Thursday.
Leah Evans, president and CEO of affordable housing provider Homeport, is part of Home Matters to Ohio. Without action on a housing agenda, Evans said more Ohioans will become at-risk for housing struggles.
“We maybe historically have thought of those at the lowest end of the income spectrum as those that are the most vulnerable,” Evans said in a December interview. “We see that moving up more and more into the middle-income spectrum, so I think what we’re seeing is that more people are impacted by housing scarcity, whether that’s rural or even urban or suburban contexts.”
Some of the proposals are targeted for the 2025-2026 biennial budget cycle, which will start soon, since DeWine has to sign off on the state budget by June 30. The Ohio fiscal year starts on July 1.
