Sen. Sampson, CT Senate GOP Question ‘Fair Share’ Advisory Committee

Sen. Rob Sampson, Ranking Senator on the Housing Committee, Sen. Jeff Gordon, former Chair of Woodstock’s Planning & Zoning Commission, Sen. Ryan Fazio, Ranking Senator on the Planning and Development Committee, and Sen. Republican Leader Stephen Harding issued the following statement regarding the cancellation of a “Fair Share” advisory committee after transparency issues were raised.

“There are many unanswered questions. Why was there a Fair Share Advisory Committee created to design a potential new mandate on our municipalities without legal permission? Why were the appointees to that committee stacked with the most outspoken and biased proponents of new municipal mandates, including the head of the organization in favor of the original Fair Share mandate itself? Why was the contract for the consultant written contrary to the law passed in 2023 and will that contract be changed for the new consultant? What is the end game of a ‘Fair Share’ housing calculation if not an eventual mandate?

“Senate Republicans believe that the people of Connecticut know best what is best for their own towns and cities–not Hartford politicians and bureaucrats. We have been fighting to uphold this idea for many years in each of our home districts. Our collective mission in our caucus is to preserve the right of residents’ voices to be heard in their towns and cities. State government is not listening.

“From the outset, we warned that the ‘Fair Share’ housing project would be run by central government bureaucrats who do not know what’s best for the people in each of Connecticut’s 169 towns. Likewise for a highly-paid consultant hired by the state under the law. We challenged the law’s proponents to require those involved at a state government level to go to each town and city, meet with people, talk with them, learn from them, and partner with them. This approach would be the appropriate way to pursue the creation of responsible and meaningful public policy. Instead, the ‘Fair Share’ housing consultant is more likely to lead us toward a one-size-fits-all, top-down approach that removes their local decision-making and potentially imposes billions in higher property taxes to pay for it. We hope that will not be the case, but we are pessimistic.

“Senate Republicans also warned of decisions at the state level being divorced from local residents who will have to deal with them. We warned that ‘Fair Share’ could produce a product that isn’t good for the people of Connecticut. We stressed that local decision-making and input is needed to get an accurate representation of the true housing affordability needs of each town.

“Senate Republicans also warned of unintended consequences. Now, those unintended consequences are increasingly reality. We all want a state where housing is affordable and attainable. We should be studying, and acting on, the very many reasons underlying housing unaffordability–and other sources of unaffordability–in Connecticut. It has become unaffordable for too many people, not just with housing, but with the cost of living, tax burdens, energy costs, and more. By tackling these issues, we can also make housing more affordable and within reach for more people across our great state. This is what Senate Republicans are fighting for, what we have been proposing, and what we will continue to fight for.

“But we must do so in a transparent manner. This current situation is unfortunate. Unanswered questions must be addressed, and Senate Republicans eagerly await those answers.”