Op/Ed Letter Concerning Affordable Housing Legislation (A3447/S1)

The article below is an Op/Ed letter, courtesy of Rev. R. Lenton Buffalo, President of the New Jersey Regional Coalition. This letter can be found in the Daily Record (Morris County), Trenton Times, and Press of Atlantic City. The letter was circulated between the dates of 12/27/10 - 12/31/10.

Making Lemonade from a Lemon -- New Housing Legislation Deserves Support

While it’s not perfect, Assembly Majority Leader Joe Cryan and Senate President Steve Sweeney deserve compliments and gratitude for turning a near disaster for fair housing into a very positive framework for a more progressive and fair system for affordable housing in New Jersey.

Assembly Bill 3447, which passed the Assembly earlier this month and is expected to be voted on in the Senate in the coming weeks, is a far cry from the original bill. That bill, known as S1, would have hurt both the poor and middle class communities and thrust us back to the dark days before former Speaker Joe Roberts and the New Jersey Regional Coalition spearheaded A-500. That legislation, passed in 2008, abolished the distasteful practice of Regional Contribution Agreements (RCAs), in which wealthy towns could sell their housing obligations to distressed cities and older suburbs, a practice which would have been revived by S1 but that has thankfully been left out of A3447.

The new bill reflects significant input from our organization, a faith-based, grassroots coalition of groups from throughout New Jersey, and our allies. We thank our legislative leaders for listening to and adopting so many of our suggestions and recommendations. For example, this bill, A3447, for the first time, recognizes the different types of communities in our state and gives consideration based on a town’s low-income demographics and not just its housing stock. It begins to reward and encourage diversity rather than punishing it. We are very pleased that RCAs (or buy-outs and opt outs of any kind) have been removed from the bill and that affordable housing requirements are much more fair and equitable than in the earlier versions.

As with any legislation, there is room for improvement, and we look forward to working on further reform in the future. But this bill is a strong one that deserves our elected officials’ support now. Legislative leaders have skillfully managed competing pressures and carefully considered legitimate issues and interests in a year long process. Many legislators played critical roles in sorting through this complex issue — including Housing Committee Chair Jerry Green, Vice Chair Mila Jasey, Assemblyman Al Coutinho, Senator Donald Norcross and, of course, Speaker Sheila Oliver. In the end, their bias was with the people of New Jersey — providing stability for middle class communities and opportunity for low-income families.

We need action on this issue that has been endlessly debated, and hope that the Senate will vote to approve it and Gov. Christie will sign it without further delay. We look forward to continued collaboration with our elected officials and allies to build ONE New Jersey.

Reverend R. Lenton Buffalo Jr.
President, New Jersey Regional Coalition
www.njregionalequity.org