December 2018 Archives

EDITORIALS

Amid influx of new residents to Central Florida, urgent action needed to expand supply of affordable housing

Dec. 24, 2017  |  Orlando Sentinel
Metro Orlando was ranked as one of the nation’s hardest places to find affordable housing before Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico three months ago, and tens of thousands of residents started leaving the island for Central Florida. Many are now living temporarily with family or friends, but are understandably impatient to move into their own homes. As economist Hank Fishkind said in a recent installment of his weekly interview series on 90.7 WMFE radio, “We already have a huge housing problem that’s about to get dramatically worse.”

It’s more critical than ever for leaders at all levels to act with urgency to ease the region’s acute shortage of affordable housing. Fortunately for them, there is no shortage of ideas.
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Duval and the state see surge of homeless children in schools

Dec. 13, 2017  |  Florida Times-Union
The Duval County Public School system is educating a large number of children in poverty.

They bring massive numbers of stresses to the classroom, living in broken homes in crime-infested neighborhoods, the victims of multiple traumas. Now add a further complication. There are more homeless children in the school system than most of us realized.
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Keep bonds to fund affordable housing

Dec. 13, 2017  |  Herald-Tribune
Speaker of the U.S. House Paul Ryan’s office on Tuesday released a not-so-cute play on ”’Twas the night before Christmas” on the eve of a conference committee’s meeting on the enormous tax bill.

In ”‘Twas the night before ‘Taxmas,’” Ryan touted the benefits of the bill but, given the House version’s effects on affordable housing nationwide, the speaker is better cast as the Grinch or Scrooge rather than as jolly old Saint Nick.
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Irma fortifies need to stop raiding affordable housing trust funds

Dec. 12, 2017  |  Naples Daily News
If Hurricane Irma hasn’t underscored to Florida lawmakers the need to keep the state’s affordable housing trust funds whole, we’re not sure what will.

The Sept. 10 hurricane that created havoc in virtually every county on Florida’s peninsula is expected to dominate issues during the 2018 legislative session. Irma left considerable housing across the state uninhabitable or damaged. After the late November application deadline, the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported its disaster assistance teams had visited 273,000 homes in Florida and spoken with more than 175,000 residents.
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Stop lawmakers’ raids on affordable-housing funds

Dec. 5, 2017  |  The Palm Beach Post
Years ago, a far more enlightened leadership in Tallahassee created the William E. Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Funds, which uses doc stamp surcharges on real estate transactions to leverage federal and private funds to help develop more affordable housing in Florida.

Today, housing costs are at a crisis point. Yet Gov. Rick Scott and many state lawmakers seem determined to contribute to the problem by diverting millions of dollars from the housing trust funds to other spending priorities, like legislative pet projects and business tax cuts.
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NEWS ARTICLES

Puerto Rico evacuees to Florida need immediate, long-term housing, task force concludes

December 29, 2017  |  Florida Politics
Housing continues to be the toughest challenge and most likely  the biggest long-term challenge as Central Florida absorbs tens of thousands of people displaced from Puerto Rico because of Hurricane Maria, surmised a new task force formed by U.S. Rep. Darren Soto.

There still is no clear idea how many of the more than 260,000 people who’ve come from Puerto Rico to Florida in the past three months plan to stay, or where Yet several task force members said it is increasingly looking as if many if not most want to make Florida their permanent home.
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Lawmakers loot trust fund for affordable housing

December 22, 2017  |  Sun Sentinel
The Florida Legislature is cutting short its help for affordable housing, diverting tens of millions of dollars each year from a trust fund meant to aid such housing developments.

And without that help, experts say, building affordable housing in South Florida could be all but impossible.
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Gwen Graham’s plan for displaced Puerto Ricans: Housing, Spanish tests, Bright Futures, Medicaid

December 22, 2017  |  Florida Politics
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham released her plan Friday for assisting the tens of thousands of Puerto Rican families displaced to Florida because of devastation on their island from Hurricane Maria, including proposals ranging from affordable housing investments to Medicaid expansion.

Graham’s package of proposals includes a call for a statewide coordinator of assistance programs for a population of an unclear size that has surged into Florida in the past three months to what she calls “a crisis point,” and charges that Republican Gov. Rick Scott has provided “a complete lack of leadership.”
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Florida Gov. and House speaker reach deal over lottery

December 16, 2017  |  Tampa Bay Times
The administration of Gov. Rick Scott has reached a deal that should end a legal battle over the Florida Lottery.

The state’s lottery department agreed last week to change a massive new contract that had been challenged by House Speaker Richard Corcoran. A copy of the new agreement shows the state is dropping a proposal to significantly increase the number of automated ticket machines around the state.
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Governor candidates get feisty on Twitter

December 16, 2017  |  Tampa Bay Times
Andrew Gillum, Richard Corcoran, Adam Putnam and Gwen Graham all shared pointed criticisms of political opponents this week.

It’s strange. Twitter dot com is normally such a pleasant place.
But in the past week or so, half of the candidates for Florida governor have used the site to launch partisan broadsides against their political opponents.
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After Irma, affordable housing becomes endangered in Florida Keys

December 15, 2017  |  Tampa Bay Times
Alex Harris of the Miami Herald had a good story about the shortage of affordable housing in the Florida Keys that should get the attention of state lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott:

After Hurricane Irma swept through the Florida Keys, many residents were cautiously optimistic: Key West, the biggest tourist draw and economic engine, had survived with minimal damage.
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Commissioners want state affordable housing fund off-limits for non-housing projects

December 12, 2017  |  Bradenton Herald
Calling off the oft-called “raid” of a state trust fund for affordable housing is another legislative priority for Manatee County commissioners.

The board unanimously approved a resolution to ask the Affordable Housing Workgroup to recommend that the Florida Legislature use all of the funds allocated in the Sadowski Trust Fund solely for affordable housing, for which it was intended.
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It was hard to find cheap housing in the Keys before Irma. Now, there’s ‘nothing’

December 10, 2017  |  Bradenton Herald
After Hurricane Irma swept through the Florida Keys, many residents were cautiously optimistic: Key West, the biggest tourist draw and economic engine, had survived with minimal damage.

The hope was for a fast return to normal, and that’s largely what has happened in the city at Mile Marker Zero. Cruise ships are back, the annual keystone event, Fantasy Fest, was a hit, and swarms of visitors are gradually returning to critical mass for Mallory Square sunsets.
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Sizing up Chris King

December 6, 2017  |  Florida Politics
The Tampa Bay Times’ interviewed Winter Park businessman and gubernatorial candidate Chris King to see how he’s approaching the race against his daunting Democratic primary opponents, former Congresswoman Gwen Graham and former Miami Beach Mayor Phillip Levine.

The Times notes Tallahassee Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum as “once the buzziest candidate,” but “now has an FBI corruption looming over his City Hall and the aura of a dead man walking.”
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Hurricane proposal could clash with Rick Scott’s budget

December 4, 2017  |  Florida Politics
A proposal seeking to fund affordable housing programs in the wakes of Hurricanes Irma and Maria could be underfunded by Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed budget.

The policy recommendation, submitted by Altamonte Springs Republican state Rep. Bob Cortes, was mentioned in passing Monday at the House Select Committee on Hurricane Response and Preparedness meeting. Cortes’ proposal was joined by 140 other recommendations heard at the meeting as part of the select group’s recommendation phase.
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House bill aimed to protect affordable housing, officials say

December 1, 2017  |  Osceola News-Gazette
In the last 25 years, nearly $2 billion in affordable housing trust funds have been diverted for other uses by Florida legislators, according to a Florida Housing Coalition report. Mary Downey, executive director of the Community Hope Center in Kissimmee, said she finds the practice “very worrisome.”

“There is obviously a shortage of affordable housing across Florida,” said Downey, whose organization works directly with homeless and low-income individuals in Osceola County. “The idea that money is intentionally being taken away from this year after year is disturbing.”
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