by Thomas Breen
Clear the path for converting three-family homes into condos.
Bar landlords from evicting tenants for no reason.
Keep pushing for a sharp increase to state funding for education.
Those are some of the ideas included in a newly released, affordability-focused policy platform put forward by Eli Sabin, one of three Democrats running to represent a west-side state House of Representatives seat currently held by 21-term incumbent Pat Dillon.
Sabin, a former downtown alder and the legislative coordinator at Connecticut Voices for Children, published those “Lower the Cost of Living” legislative priorities in an email press release Monday afternoon. He also held a discussion on that same topic with roughly 30 neighbors at Whalley Pizza on Saturday.
Sabin is challenging Dillon — a deputy majority leader and the chair of the Health Subcommittee of the state legislature’s Appropriations Committee — in the Aug. 11 Democratic primary for state rep for the 92nd General Assembly District, which covers parts of Amity, Westville, Edgewood, Dwight, and the Hill.
While Dillon has been endorsed by the local Democratic Party, Sabin and Justin Farmer — a former Hamden Legislative Council member who has been endorsed by the Connecticut Democratic Socialists of America — have both petitioned their ways onto the August primary ballot.
“As I’ve knocked on more than 3,000 doors in the 92nd district over the past six months, I have heard over and over about how expensive and difficult life in our state is right now,” Sabin wrote on Monday. “Rents and property taxes keep going up, and the dream of homeownership is out of reach for so many people. The high cost of childcare and health care force families into compromises no one should have to make. And the rising price of gas and groceries make daily life hard.
“Our state government needs to take on this crisis with urgency, creativity, and political courage. If we don’t act, more of our neighbors will continue to get priced out of New Haven and out of our state entirely.”
One of the “Day 1 Priorities” listed in Sabin’s new plan is to encourage more condo conversions to boost affordable homeownership.
Sabin wrote about just how much of New Haven’s housing stock consists of two- and three-family homes that currently operate as rental apartments. Buying one of these multifamily houses is often “too expensive for most people” — leaving too much city housing under the control of megalandlords.
“Imagine if we changed that,” Sabin wrote. “Instead of thousands of tenants living in rental apartments owned by large corporate landlords, working and middle class families could buy those apartments and benefit from the stability and financial security of homeownership. To make this possible, in the legislature, I will work to make it easier to turn existing multifamily houses into affordable condos that can be purchased by our neighbors.”
How would he do that?
Sabin wrote that the state should create “simple, clear templates and standards that families can use to turn multifamily rentals into condos and apply for mortgages to buy them—through a streamlined, simultaneous process.”
He wrote that the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority should offer down-payment assistance and mortgages to assist first-time homebuyers purchase homes through this type of condo conversion.
And he wrote that state and local land banks could buy properties, convert them into condos, and then sell them to new homeowners at affordable prices.
“More families should have the opportunity to buy an affordable home. Changing our condo laws could make that possible for thousands of people in New Haven and across the state, while taking back control from the mega-landlords who neglect our community.”
Another plank of Sabin’s newly released policy platform is passing “just cause” eviction protections. That has been a priority of tenants unions, CT DSA, and other tenants advocates over the past few legislative sessions in Hartford.
Such a bill would prohibit landlords from evicting tenants who otherwise comply with their leases, pay rent, and agree to reasonable annual rent increases. Currently, most tenants can be evicted simply because their leases have expired and their landlords have decided not to renew.
Sabin wrote that “tenants who meet their obligations should not be forced to move without a legitimate reason. Losing your apartment is deeply disruptive and destabilizing. A rental unit is not simply a piece of property; it is a home. Research links eviction and housing instability to job loss, lower educational attainment for kids, and physical and mental health problems. Evictions can also push families into unsafe housing or homelessness.”
He continued, “By preventing displacement, keeping more families in their homes, and strengthening neighborhoods, just cause regulations will protect tenants while supporting the long-term well-being of communities across the state. We need to get this legislation passed as soon as possible.”
Sabin’s policy platform begins, meanwhile, with a call for increased state funding for education — a mission that New Haven State Sen. and President Pro Tem Martin Looney, Mayor Justin Elicker, New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Supt. Madeline Negron, teachers union President Leslie Blatteau, and New Haven’s entire state delegation have doubled down on in recent years.
“Our schools need more funding,” Sabin wrote. “We need more staff—including paras, guidance counselors, nurses, and librarians—to give every child the education and individual attention they deserve. We need to fix our HVAC systems so schools don’t have to close during hot weather. And our teachers and paraprofessionals deserve a raise.”
He connected this issue to the high cost of living because of how local taxes keep going up — in part to help the city fund the local school distrct.
“I believe the state needs to significantly increase funding to municipalities for public education,” Sabin wrote.” Specifically, he called for increasing the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) foundation grant to $16,000 per student, and then tying that amount to inflation going forward. The ECS foundation grant has been stuck at $11,525 per student since 2013, with a one-time boost to $13,087 included in this fiscal year’s budget.
Sabin, the former director of the state legislature’s Progressive Caucus, told the Independent on Tuesday that the state could cover the costs of increasing education funding — as well as funding a $500 annual child tax credit for income-eligible families statewide, another policy proposal of Sabin’s — by adjusting the volatility cap to “allow a bit more resources to be invested in our communities.”
Sabin said he is also in support of raising taxes “on the wealthiest folks in our state.” He pointed to a recent Massachusetts “millionaires tax” as providing a model for one such type of tax worth exploring in Connecticut.