ATLANTA — Despite agreement among lawmakers and advocates that Georgia needs more quality affordable housing, the General Assembly this year took few steps to address the shortfall.
Most of the bills aimed at housing problems failed to pass, foundering on the shoals of inter-chamber disagreements and controversy about the extent to which the state government can limit local housing regulations.
House Bill 514, the “Housing Regulation Transparency Act,” sponsored by state Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon, would have prohibited local governments from extending moratoriums on building new housing beyond 180 days, with some limited exceptions.
The Senate version of the bill — which passed on the last day of the legislative session — would have prohibited extended local moratoriums on both single- and multi-family housing.
But the House disagreed with the Senate version, pushing the bill to a last-minute conference committee. With just hours left on the legislative clock, there simply wasn’t enough time to hammer out the differences.
Washburn said he is optimistic the bill will pass next year, the second year of the current two-year legislative term.
“I’m trying to make it easy to develop and to build housing for Georgians, whether it’s multifamily or single family,” said Washburn, a veteran real-estate agent.
Local government advocates — mainly represented by the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) and the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) — did not oppose HB 514.
But they balked at another bill Washburn proposed that would have prohibited local governments from regulating a long list of housing design elements, from roof design to building materials to minimum lot sizes.
Washburn said local regulations drive up housing costs that are then passed on to consumers. But House Bill 517 stalled in a House…
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