Democrat Zoning Bill Fails to Address Root Cause of Inequity, Gives More Power to Hartford

Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford) released the following statement regarding the state Senate’s passage of House Bill 6107 which contains multiple zoning and land-use changes to grant the state broader control of local zoning decision making:

“Connecticut must work to improve access to housing for all residents and address deep inequities across all levels of society. Once again, the bill put forward by Democrats completely misses that mark. It does nothing to address the root causes of these issues: a stagnant economy, a state that is dead last in job and income growth, and a lack of opportunity to break the cycle of generational poverty. People who need better housing need more income and better job opportunities to be able to afford better housing, not more government programs.

“Housing is unaffordable when our state is unaffordable. Income growth is not keeping up with the cost of living and families are falling behind because of tax increases and rising prices on necessities like electricity and health care, which makes it harder to save for housing. The Democrats’ solution to the problems caused by their policies is to seek even more power over local communities and their residents. Changing zoning rules to give Hartford greater control over our neighborhoods is not going to boost our economy, grow jobs or make our state more affordable.

“For years, Republicans have offered a better way. We advocate for policies that invest in jobs, education, and workforce development. We fight against bad economic policies that add more burdens onto taxpayers and jobs. We propose bills to help people trying to climb up and out of poverty and revitalize our cities. But Democrats repeatedly choose another path. Their tax and spend policies put Connecticut dead last in job growth, income growth, and at the top of the list of most taxed states in the country. The Democrats’ programs and policies that brought us to this point failed our cities and the people who live there. This bill will only continue down the same road to failure. Until CT Democrats create an economy that provides better opportunity and income to families, housing will only grow more unaffordable for more people no matter the programs Democrats create.”