‘A good possibility’ – Lawmakers say housing committee has more work to do

Lawmakers introduced 55 bills related to affordable housing and property rights, according to Citizens Count analysis. Michaela Towfighi—Monitor staff
Published: 06-30-2024 6:59 AM |
The rationale for convening a special housing committee was easy for House Speaker Sherman Packard to justify. People across the state told him time and time again how the lack of affordable homes and apartments in New Hampshire was impacting their lives – not to mention businesses.
But he knew there would be no “silver bullet” fix to this mounting problem. With the committee, he hoped legislators would begin to chip away at potential solutions.
As the legislative session comes to a close, Packard said the committee has done just that. Although still in discussion, a “good possibility” exists that the committee will become a permanent fixture in the State House next year.
“I don’t know what the argument would be against having a committee that’s trying to fix a serious problem,” he said.
This year, nine bills were referred to the special committee – seven from the House and two from the Senate.
The seven bills that originated in the House were the product of a year of listening for committee members. The committee spent one year hearing from stakeholders across the state – landlords, developers, advocates and others – about the state’s housing crisis before introducing legislation in 2024.
To Rep. Benjamin Baroody, a Manchester Democrat and the committee’s vice chair, this model made the committee successful. In his 30 years in the State House, the housing committee was the strongest bipartisan effort he’s witnessed firsthand, he said.
“If you sat in a room you would not know what body anybody belonged to because of the way we did work together,” he said. “The chairman handled everything very well and I just think we had a very successful year.”
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Committee chairman, Rep. Joe Alexander, a Goffstown Republican, could not be reached for comment.
The bills before the committee this year predominately focused on regulations – loosening sprinkler requirements, reducing the required number of parking spaces, allowing two accessory dwelling units by right and accelerating zoning changes.
Although not all were successful – the accessory dwelling unit bill was killed in the Senate –Rep. Josh Yokela, a Freemont Republican, said the committee’s expertise allowed them to build broad-based support for their proposals.
Take parking regulations, for example. Requirements to have multiple spaces per unit were identified as one of many regulatory hurdles that can be costly to developers.
This session, lawmakers concurred on House Bill 1400, which limits parking requirements to 1.5 spaces per unit for residential housing developments.
“I would have never expected to see 220 plus people voting for that kind of legislation in years past,” Yokela said. “I think that them bringing that expertise and explaining that to the entire House, the House was being receptive to their work.”
Lawmakers introduced 55 bills this year related to affordable housing and property, according to an analysis by Citizens Count. Those bills were referred to 12 different committees.
The special house committee had the most success in passing legislation. Of the seven House bills, the governor has signed one, while three remain active – if those too are passed – 57 percent of bills before the committee would become law. Three were killed in session.
The House Commerce and Consumer Affairs committee saw the most referrals – 15 bills were assigned, with six still active and nine killed.
To Rep. Ellen Read, a Newmarket Democrat, more housing-related legislation should be assigned to the committee in future sessions, given its success.
Historically, when lawmakers have introduced bills that challenged local zoning ordinances, these proposals have been assigned to the House Municipal and County Government Committee where they have died, said Read.
This year, with regulations in front of the special housing committee – these proposals were better received.
“The municipal committee has historically been made predominantly of state reps who are also on their local select board or on their planning board in their town…they typically have been very sympathetic to the positions of towns and the Municipal Association,” she said. “Which committee a bill goes to matters a lot because the viewpoint of those members that are on that committee matters, and their background.”
Next session Read and Yokela hope the committee can revisit the accessory dwelling proposal, which would help add to the state’s housing stock in an affordable way, they said.
Most importantly, committee members are looking to carry on with the knowledge and momentum they’ve built this session.
“I think that we can build on what we have started,” said Yokela. “There’s still work to be done and to build on the expertise gained by that committee is advantageous for the House.”