March 2017 Archives

EDITORIALS

South Florida Affordable Housing Situation Getting Worse

March 29, 2017 | Orlando Sentinel

It’s the best of times and — at least in one critical respect — the worst of times for Central Florida’s economy. The region has seen strong job growth; it led the state over the past year. But a chronic shortage of affordable housing in Metro Orlando has been deepening.

In a study released this month by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties ranked third from the bottom in the nation among metropolitan areas for its supply of housing affordable for extremely low-income residents. The coalition found that Metro Orlando’s housing shortage for that group was twice as bad as the national average.
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Affordable housing should be priority

March 26, 2017 | Gainesville Sun

As Gainesville grows, our community must do more to keep housing affordable while protecting natural resources and the quality of life here.

Further sprawl strains resources as well as our battered and crowded roads. Policies that encourage compact development around Gainesville’s job centers offer the promise of a more walkable and vibrant community.
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Don’t Raid the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Yet Again

March 15, 2017 | Bradenton Herald

The lack of affordable and workforce housing is not a Bradenton dilemma. It’s not a Palmetto hardship. It’s not a Manatee County predicament. Just about everywhere in Florida it is a political question. Nobody has come up with a solution.

The Sunshine State has a meritorious partial answer, if only it is allowed to work. The Sadowski Act, passed into law in 1992, pumps money into affordable housing programs statewide through the documentary stamp tax paid on real estate transactions. But those dollars are basically stolen by Tallahassee politicians more interested in funding their goals — by explaining the money was needed to balance the state budget.
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Raiding the Housing Trust Fund

March 3, 2017 | WFLA

As lawmakers gear up for the legislative session, they get one simple request: use the state’s housing trust fund to actually pay for housing.

Carrie O’Rourke with Florida Realtors says the Sunshine State already has a great program for affordable housing
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NEWS ARTICLES

There’s No Place Like Home (If You Can Afford It)

March 2017 | Florida Policy Institute

The Florida State Legislature has almost $293 million available in the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund to invest in affordable housing for 2017-18. While the Legislature has been reluctant to fully utilize the available funds in the past, the funding fully supports the articulated goals of state policymaking leadership. The 2017 legislative session is the perfect time for lawmakers to commit to investing all the dedicated affordable housing funds for their intended purpose.
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Sadowski Coalition seeks full funding for affordable housing in state budget

March 2, 2017 | SaintPetersBlog

Affordable housing advocates urged the Legislature Thursday to spend all of the state’s dedicated housing money for its intended purpose, saying that more than 910,000 Floridians pay more than half their income for shelter.
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Sadowski Coalition Marks A Somber 25th

March 2, 2017 | WFSU

Advocates are marking a 25-year-old tragedy by urging lawmakers to remember the economic dividends of investing in affordable housing.

The Sadowski Coalition is asking lawmakers not to divert money from a $292 million trust fund that is supposed to help low-income people find homes and apartments.
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March 2, 2017 | Orlando Sentinel

A coalition of industry and nonprofit groups Thursday made what has become an annual case for state lawmakers to reject Gov. Rick Scott’s efforts to divert money from housing programs to balance the state budget.

The Sadowski Housing Coalition, with members ranging from the Florida Coalition for the Homeless to Habitat for Humanity, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Home Builders Association, held a news conference Thursday and called for lawmakers to allocate state and local housing trust-fund money to affordable housing programs.
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PRESS RELEASES

March 2, 2017 | For Immediate Release

The Sadowski Coalition – made up of 30 diverse statewide organizations, including industry and business groups; advocates for the elderly, veterans, homeless and special needs; and faith-based organizations – today gathered at a press conference to call on the Florida Legislature to use all state and local housing trust fund monies for housing in Fiscal Year 2017-18.
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March 1, 2016 | For Immediate Release

Tallahassee, Fla. – The Sadowski Housing Coalition today applauded the Florida Senate and House of Representatives for coming to a compromise on affordable housing, recommending that $214.1 million be appropriated from Florida’s housing trust funds toward affordable housing.
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