Network continues to defend housing reforms

Reactionary forces keep attempting to sap policies that will create more homes

Under a tent top on a green commons at the Ethel Lawrence Homes in Mount Laurel - named for the woman whose lawsuit resulted in housing becoming a constitutional right in New Jersey - Governor Jon Corzine, surrounded by lawmakers and other stakeholders, signed the comprehensive housing reform bill, A500,  into law on July 17, 2008.  The Network supported the reforms throughout the legislative process and considers A500 a significant step towards dealing with the state's relentless housing crisis. It is the most far-reaching housing bill enacted in New Jersey in many years and, a year later, we remain hopeful that the new law will result in not only more housing that is affordable to people of low and moderate incomes, but also that this housing will be built closer to where people work.
 
"This law will fulfill the intention of the Fair Housing Act, passed over 20 years ago - to give people the opportunity to find affordable housing in areas of economic growth," Arnold Cohen, Network's policy coordinator, said at the time. See a fact sheet on A500.

Some of the reforms of A500 are in the initial stages of implementation. However, opposition to A500 has been persistent, and several legislative attempts have been made since last summer to rollback the reforms, as well as sap the new rules of the Council on Affordable Housing which work in tandem with A500. Earlier this year, the Network defended A500 from the attempt to weaken it posed by S2485, a bill proposed by state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-20, and passed by the state Senate in March. View a Network policy statement on S2485, two op-eds by Diane Sterner (one, two) refuting misinformation on the housing reforms and an FAQ sheet. When the bill languished in the Assembly, Sen. Lesniak incorporated its deleterious provisions, which allow commercial developers to shirk their responsibility to the fair housing effort, into the state's economic stimulus package. Again the Network and its allies stepped up to protect the long-needed reforms and the people they would benefit. We have won some partial victories. but the struggle continues. See a Network statement on the latest attempts on undermining A500, which includes a call for action, and a fact sheet.

The Network is committed to doing what it takes to ensure that these necessary and long-overdue housing reforms go forward.