by Donald Eng
With a Tuesday deadline fast approaching, Gov. Ned Lamont still has yet to publicly state whether he will sign House Bill 5002, a sweeping housing-related bill intended to address the shortage and high cost of housing in the state.
But opposition to the bill from the suburbs, key to any potential re-election bid next year, has put Lamont in a tough spot. Lamont has until June 24 to sign or veto it, or it becomes law without his signature. He has said he would like to see certain aspects of the bill, specifically an affordable housing calculator called “Towns Take The Lead” addressed.
On Friday, at a New Haven gathering to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the legendary Pepe’s pizzeria, questions from the gathered media focused on the bill. Asked directly if he intended to sign it, Lamont replied that he would be “able to say something on that on Monday or Tuesday.”
In response to a follow-up question about what he would need to know that he currently doesn’t, Lamont said he was “just talking to a lot of people right now.”
“The housing bill, to be really effective, towns have got to buy in. I want them to take the lead,” he said. “Most of the towns have taken the lead, some of them haven’t.”
He added that housing was “absolutely crucial to the economic growth and opportunity in this state, so we’re going to get it right.”
Lamont said the state would never reach its growth potential and the cost of housing would never come down without adding housing.
“I just have to figure out whether this bill is the right way to get it done,” he said.
Lamont has acknowledged receiving pressure from all sides on the bill.
Republicans have urged him to veto it, as have the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM), which represents 168 of the state’s 169 towns, and the Connecticut Council of Small Towns (COST), which represents 115.
On the other side, a coalition of advocacy groups are pushing for HB 5002 to become law. Open Communities Alliance, a Connecticut-based nonprofit with a focus on reversing housing segregation, was recently joined by leaders of the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, Connecticut Voices for Children, the Housing Collective, United Way of Connecticut, LISC Connecticut, and the Connecticut chapter of the American Planning Association in that effort.
Senate Democrats have also offered another option, offering to work with Lamont to address his concerns, then revising the bill’s requirements in an upcoming special session. But that option would still require Lamont to sign or veto the bill in its current form.