by Donald Eng CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT — A daylong debate in the state House of Representatives ended with the late-night passage of a 100-page, multi-faceted bill that legislators hope will mitigate the state’s housing crisis. It passed by an 84-67 margin.
The original bill, House Bill 5002, An Act Concerning Housing and the Needs of Homeless Persons, was replaced by two amendments, 92 pages and 13 pages respectively. The resulting package included wide-ranging provisions requiring zoning regulations that provide for multifamily dwellings, promote housing choice and housing diversity, including moderate and low-income housing. Municipalities would also be required to prepare an affordable housing plan and update it every five years, and would have “Fair Share” affordable housing targets, among numerous other provisions.
State Rep. Antonio Felipe, D-Bridgeport, referred to the bill as a result of five months of really hard work and collaboration.
“When it comes to doing things for our rental residents, for our homeowners,” Felipe said. “When it comes to doing things for our homeless population and making sure we have more affordable housing here in the state of CT. This has taken a long time.”
State Rep Tony Scott, R-Monroe, ranking member of the Housing Committee, said the amended bill contained a number of “poison pills” that prevented him from supporting it.
“There were some concessions made, undoubtedly, and we appreciate those concessions,” Scott said.
Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, said the bill had undergone revisions in a series of conversations over the weekend.
Among the issues he said House leaders addressed was providing clarity that should developers not come forward with affordable housing, municipalities would not have to.
“There’s been this rhetoric that if the private marketplace doesn’t develop housing, that towns will have to. And that was never the intent,” he said.
Also, Rojas said, the revisions included allowing towns to come back to the state if there were reasons the community was unable to reach its Fair Share affordable housing goal.
“We’re giving the opportunity for towns and communities to come back to us with a number that they think is more feasible based on their understanding of local conditions based on their understanding of available land,” Rojas said.
State Rep. Joe Zullo, R-East Haven, speaks during the House debate on HB 5002, a housing bill, on May 27, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
State Rep. Joe Zullo, R-East Haven, called the proposal “one of the largest grabs at local control that I’ve seen in my career as a legislator.”
Zullo later introduced an amendment that listed by town the number of housing units required to reach the Fair Share allocation number. That amendment failed with no representative — not even Zullo — voting in favor of it.
Republicans also introduced an amendment spreading the affordable housing plan requirement over three years based on an alphabetical list of communities. That failed on a 101-50 vote. A series of other Republican amendments failed by similar tallies.
Seventeen Democrats voted against the final bill, along with all of the Republicans.
COST Executive Director Betsy Gara talks with reporters at her organization’s 50th Anniversary event at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. Credit: Brian Scott-Smith / CTNewsJunkie
Tuesday evening, the Connecticut Council of Small Towns (COST), which represents 115 smaller communities throughout Connecticut, issued a statement on the bill saying it would “undermine local planning, impose difficult compliance burdens on towns, and create uncertainty regarding the availability of certain municipal aid grants.”
“Towns have been collaborating with local planners and regional councils of government to assess housing needs and develop and implement plans to promote more affordable housing, including housing near transit stations. Rather than build on these efforts, this bill upends local and regional planning in favor of a confusing, top-down approach,” said Executive Director Betsy Gara.
She called the bill “too much, too fast.”
“Rather than pursue a complicated, top-down, approach, lawmakers should support a balanced framework for promoting affordable housing that builds on existing planning efforts and fully considers issues such as water and wastewater capacity and the protection of environmentally sensitive lands,” she said.