On Monday, an affordable housing bill package, including legislation to overhaul the state’s Fair Housing Act and affordable housing policy was advanced out of the Assembly Housing Committee.
A continuation of efforts made at the end of the last legislative session, A-4 would eliminate the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) and replace it with a program within the judiciary to resolve disputes related to affordable housing. The legislation would also make changes to bonus credits and adopt a methodology for the calculation and allocation of municipal fair share obligations.
The League recently hosted a Lunch & Learn webinar where many aspects of the legislation were reviewed in greater detail. The PowerPoint slide deck from this Lunch & Learn is available on the League’s website.
The League continues to have significant concerns with many provisions in A-4 and expressed them at the committee hearing through testimony from East Windsor Mayor and League Past President, Janice Mironov. The League will continue to work with the bills’ sponsors and the Administration to seek amendments to address these concerns.
We are also concerned that without appropriate legislation, municipal affordable housing obligations will continue to be handled exclusively within the courts, which has proven to be a timely and costly endeavor.
The Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee has previously advanced a Senate companion bill, S-50. A-4 has been second referenced to the Assembly Appropriations Committee and S-50 has been second referenced to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. Both committees are likely to meet on Thursday, February 22, and it is likely that both bills will be on their respective committee’s agenda for consideration.
Contact: Frank Marshall, Esq., Associate General Counsel, fmarshall@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x137.