3 minute read
A New Year Brings New Opportunity
The AMA begins its push to build more housing, secure rental assistance and oppose further moratoria in 2021
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By Jake Hinman and Bastien Andruet
With the dust settled on the 2020 election, the AMA, as with many others, was surprised to find that the next legislative session will look quite familiar.
After nearly every politico and pundit predicted that Democrats would flip the state House of Representatives, Republicans managed to hang on to their majorities in both the state House and the state Senate, only losing one Senate seat.
This is of particular significance as Arizona saw an influx of more than $40 million into legislative races – most of which originated from out of state and was intended to help Democrats flip key seats.
Now that many of the same, and even a few new players are returning to the state house, the AMA is able to pick up where it left off prior to COVID-19. In 2021 it will push for the establishment of a state LIHTC program, secure further rental assistance for property owners experiencing a loss of income and oppose any further efforts at the state and federal levels to impose another eviction moratorium.
LIHTC returns
As you may recall, the AMA, in partnership with Rep. Jeff Weninger (LD17), had introduced a bill to the previous Legislature that intended to establish a state Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) meant to develop a greater supply of affordable housing across the state. Over half of all U.S. states, both red and blue, currently have established LIHTC programs which have proven to be incredibly effective and generating more affordable housing development.
The AMA’s bill mirrored the federal LIHTC program, which was established in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan, made permanent by President Bill Clinton, and has been responsible for developing millions of housing units in the decades since. The bill received wide bipartisan support, passing 45-15 in the state House, and was on its way to passage through the state Senate when COVID effectively killed all remaining bills for the session.
One thing the 2020 election taught folks was that the issue of building affordable housing is bipartisan, and it is an issue the AMA expects should receive widespread support yet again in 2021.
Rental assistance has proven key As has been the case since March, the AMA has been holding local and state government accountable during these unilateral eviction moratoria by fighting to secure more than $128 million in rental assistance and foreclosure prevention funds for property owners and managers. Additionally, the AMA has
been working hard to remind policy makers that eviction moratoria accomplish nothing other than kicking the can down the proverbial road, and that the most effective aid for rental residents financially struggling is to provide more rental assistance dollars to supplement depleted funds across the state.
At the federal level, the AMA has supported efforts to secure federal rental assistance dollars which have been conspicuously absent over the past nine months. At the local level, the AMA has been aggressively pushing since April to secure rental assistance funds to supplement the severely underfunded state rental assistance program.
Maricopa County and Phoenix saw such high demand that they had to add an additional $10 million and $3.3 million to their respective programs. For 2021, the AMA will be pushing more aggressively at the Legislature for the state to step up and both streamline and fully fund its statewide eviction prevention program to meet demand.
Life, liberty and property
Lastly, and arguably most important, the AMA will be fighting any and all efforts to further extend or establish a new eviction moratorium. At the federal level, the AMA will be working closely with the National Apartment Association (NAA) to convince our congressional delegation that an eviction moratorium is neither necessary nor an effective solution. Locally, the AMA will continue to educate legislators on the facts behind the harm eviction moratoria cause, as well as provide Gov. Doug Ducey with real-time industry numbers demonstrating the lack of need for another extreme and costly measure. While some municipalities have attempted to take advantage of the crisis and unilaterally reform landlord-tenant law, the AMA has successfully held off any efforts to extend the eviction notice period.
The AMA is also continuing its push with the courts to streamline the eviction process and partner property owners with rental assistance dollars to save the cost of going to court in the first place.
Jake Hinman is the Director of Government Affairs for Capitol Consulting. He can be reached at 602-712-1121.
Bastien Andruet is a Municipal Lobbyist for Capitol Consulting. He can be reached at 602-712-1121.