Connecticut is a leader in ending homelessness

... and Gov. Lamont can help finish the job

While we watch the homelessness crisis unfold in states like California and New York, Connecticut could be the first state to achieve a goal once thought insurmountable: making homelessness rare, brief and one-time. In 2005, an estimated 30,000 plus of our neighbors were experiencing homelessness. Today, that number is just over 3,000.

While homelessness is still a major problem for Connecticut’s poorest residents, it’s important to realize just how close we are to making sure everyone in our state has a home. Recent cuts to state bond funding for affordable housing development, however, have put this progress in jeopardy and risk leaving thousands more people out on the streets. We need our state leaders to step back up and invest in an affordable, sustainable solution to homelessness.

Connecticut has decreased its overall homelessness numbers by 90% in the past 15 years, and we’ve done it through innovative solutions and robust state investment. Most importantly, the state has invested nearly $1.5 billion in affordable housing over the past decade. These investments have resulted in more than 22,000 new and rehabilitated affordable homes for our most vulnerable citizens and lower income workers struggling to make ends meet. With those available housing units and subsidies, we have been able to prevent more and more people from ever becoming homeless and kept people out of emergency rooms and prisons. We’re also able to move families out of shelters and into permanent housing more quickly.

That investment in affordable housing is under threat. With Gov. Ned Lamont’s last proposed budget proposing zero dollars in affordable housing bonding and no bond deal with the legislature in sight, we’re starting to lose what we’ve gained. Without continuing to invest in preserving the affordable housing we’ve built, it is estimated that 5,400 units could reach the end of their affordability restrictions and be lost in the next five years. Many of those families may end up experiencing homelessness. Furthermore, without preservation and development of new homes, folks exiting the homeless service system will have nowhere to go, resulting in overcrowded shelters and more people living on the street.

Why can’t this significant investment be funded using private dollars or leveraging the private housing market? Unfortunately, private developers will rarely build below-market-rate housing on their own, as they cannot finance the development. While below-market-rate units are set at lower rents, they still require the same overhead, property management, insurance, and utility costs. As a consequence, they frequently operate at a net loss and are almost always impossible for the private market to underwrite. Without state dollars to subsidize that rental gap, Connecticut would have thousands of fewer housing units and thousands more families experiencing homelessness or housing instability.

Not only is housing affordability crucial for ending homelessness, it’s also good for economic growth. For every dollar we invest in affordable housing, the return is $4 of private investment to Connecticut. These are tax dollars, jobs, and most importantly, critical housing resources that we can’t afford to lose if our state is going to grow.

Bond funding for affordable housing is an important part of running a modern, 21st century state. In 2018, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched a $20 billion, five-year plan to combat homelessness and build affordable housing. In the same year, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker authorized $1.8 billion in capital spending for preservation and construction of new affordable housing. By zeroing out new investment, Connecticut risks falling behind our neighbors in housing affordability.

The state legislature realizes the need for more affordable options in Connecticut. In the 2019 legislative session, the Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee spurned the Governor’s “debt diet” by including $255 million in new bond authorizations for affordable housing over the biennium. The governor should follow the legislature’s lead and continue this important investment. For thousands of Connecticut residents who are still without a home, their livelihood depends on it.