A group of state lawmakers crossing party lines and geographical boundaries have coalesced around one issue ahead of the next budget cycle: addressing the commonwealth’s housing crisis.
“I think that all of my colleagues here — Republican and Democrat — are all going in the same direction when it comes to identifying why we’re in a crisis,” said Rep. Jared Solomon (D-Philadelphia).
More than a dozen members and advocates held a Monday morning press conference, detailing a number of housing problems and identifying potential solutions. A key area of reform would be pushing local governments to adopt “pro-housing” stances, such as reversing ordinances that restrict certain types of housing or blocking rules that impose burdensome developer requirements.
“Housing is too important a problem to leave to a patchwork of local policies,” said Kat DeSantis, of the community-oriented 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania. “Pennsylvania has a statewide housing shortage … when the problem is statewide, the solution has to be statewide.”
Fair housing advocates also shared their recommendations for improving equal access, including eviction sealing, statewide code enforcement and anti-discrimination bills.
Housing affordability
Market forces over the last several years drove up housing prices faster than average salaries, pricing out many middle-class families and young adults. Solomon said that the average first-time homeowner in 1991 was 28 — a full decade younger than the average age of today’s first-time homeowner.
Rep. Joe Hogan (R-Bucks) shared that his hometown of Levittown started as a “quintessential suburb,” where World War II veterans could afford a starter home on a steel mill salary.
“Those homes today are out of reach for far too many people,” said Hogan. “Volunteer firefighters … can’t afford to live in some of the communities they serve anymore. Nurses, teachers are coming in from an hour away — sometimes farther.
“You need to be able to have housing where they can afford to live and make it attainable,” he said.
Leah Eppinger, the president of the American Planning Association’s state chapter and executive director of Dauphin County’s housing authority, said, “Housing affordability is not just a housing issue, it’s a workforce issue. It’s an economic development issue and it’s a community stabilization issue.”
She urged support for policies to reduce the cost of housing while increasing the supply, saying the modern land use policies “gives communities the tools to respond while still respecting the local character and local decision-making that our communities have come to rely on.”
Cutting local regulations
Proposals like House Bill 2186 would allow municipalities to enact “reasonable” restrictions for accessory dwelling units, which are often smaller homes on the same lot as a single-family house. Sponsor Rep. John Inglis (D-Allegheny) pitched the spaces as affordable options for seniors, young adults or caregivers.
“Right now, many Pennsylvania municipalities either ban them outright or make them nearly impossible to build,” Inglis said. “It’s a simple way to add affordable housing without changing the character of our neighborhoods, and we can’t afford to keep blocking these solutions.”
House Bill 2185, also sponsored by Inglis, requires certain local units of government to permit duplex, triplex and quadplex housing in areas zoned for single-family residences. House Bill 2155, sponsored by Rep. Greg Scott (D-Montgomery), prohibits parking minimums, which critics say drive up the cost of developments and limit high-density housing.
Inglis shared that he was also working on a proposal to incentivize transit-oriented housing, which he said would help strengthen transportation systems and reduce car dependency.
“Each of these bills addresses a different piece of the housing puzzle,” said Inglis. “But together … they form a comprehensive approach to affordability, supply and opportunity.”
Rep. Tarik Khan’s (D-Philadelphia) “Golden Girls law,” named after the popular 1980s television show, targets local rules restricting non-families from cohabitating. In the series, four older women share a home — though only two of them are related. Such an arrangement is illegal in parts of the state, Khan said.
“We think that’s ridiculous, and we also think that is restricting the types of housing agreements that people have,” said Khan, who identifies as a Sophia (one of the characters in the show). “We need commonsense laws like the Golden Girls law that would make housing arrangements like that legal. That would allow older adults to be able to share their houses; that would allow younger students to be able to live with other younger students.”
High-density housing would also meet agricultural objectives for Rep. David Zimmerman (R-Lancaster).
“I’m a huge proponent of saving as much farmland as we possibly can,” said Zimmerman. “In order to save those farms, I’m a big proponent of doing some higher density. There’s no reason that (the city of) Lancaster can’t be going higher, rather than building out.”
Solomon emphasized a commitment to rewarding communities that adopt such rules or eliminate red tape, rather than penalizing, to respect local control.
“We want to provide the incentive to you to adopt really good, pro-housing initiatives,” said Solomon. “We want you to be pro-housing, and we want to be a ready and willing partner to get you there.”
Funding such proposals, however, remains to be determined. Gov. Josh Shapiro is scheduled to introduce his budget priorities on Tuesday, launching the next round of negotiations. Solomon said he hoped a portion of new dollars could be carved out for housing incentives.
Making housing fair
Also Monday, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission released its annual report on the State of Fair Housing in the commonwealth, which ended with a call for more dedicated state funding for affordable and safe housing.
Key recommendations included passing Senate Bill 1152, which would prohibit “source of income” rejections. Landlords could no longer say they don’t accept government subsidies, such as Section 8 housing vouchers, to pay rent, for example.
“If a tenant can pay rent fully on time, it should not matter whether that income comes from wages, a housing voucher or a fixed benefit,” said Sen. Carolyn Comitta (D-Chester), a co-sponsor for the bill.
Eviction sealing, another recommendation, would have improved the life of one of his constituents, said Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El (D-Lancaster). She had two evictions on her record — one for fleeing a violent partner and another in which Smith-Wade-El said she was evicted in retaliation after she reported mold.
Having both meant that she was homeless for a year with four children before a landlord would sign a lease with her, he said. In other cases, an eviction stays on someone’s record even if a judge sides with a tenant.
“In the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, an eviction record that a landlord sees does not tell you what the eviction was over …. (and) It does not say whether or not the judge found in favor of the tenant,” said Smith-Wade-El. “Every year, thousands of Pennsylvanians are denied housing over evictions that never happened.”
Other recommendations include improving housing conditions for tenants, including statewide code enforcement.
According to a 2023 American Housing Survey, thousands of homes had serious quality issues. Up to 90,100 homes didn’t have working toilets within the last three months, 383,100 were uncomfortably cold for more than 24 hours and 111,300 houses had mold within the last year.
“Our housing gaps and our housing inequalities are not a fluke, and they’re not an accident. They are a result of past and present policies, practices and laws,” said Brittany Mellinger, the director of Fair Housing and Commercial Property with the commission. “This is not work that PHRC can do alone … it will take state and local leaders, community advocates, developers, vendors, landlords, realtors, social service providers and more working together to make a meaningful difference.”
