Florida Builders Return Fire on Attack Against Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Home builders in Florida are up in arms against a proposal by Governor Jeb Bush to eliminate $167 million from the state’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and plans, reported in the media, to sunset the highly successful program when it comes up for its regular four-year reauthorization.
Last year, lawmakers in Tallahassee siphoned off $126 million from the trust fund, an amount that would have enabled nearly 9,000 working families to become home owners, according to the Florida Home Builders Association (FHBA). This year’s proposal would be to the detriment of an additional 11,000 families.
Since 1992, the trust fund program has provided funding for more than 150,000 working families, seniors and disabled to buy homes. The fund was created by the Sadowski Act, which allocates 20 cents to the fund for every $1,000 spent on real estate.
Identifying the Affordable Housing Trust Fund as one of his association’s top three priorities in the upcoming legislative session, FHBA President Mike Hickman said that ending guaranteed state funding for affordable housing would “make us come back year after year to lobby lawmakers for affordable housing dollars. We cannot tolerate this action. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund is sacred.”