Slotkin calls on local officials to ensure efficacy of bipartisan housing law

U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin says local governments will play a major role in maximizing the impact of the bipartisan housing bill that became law this month without President Donald Trump’s signature.

Slotkin, a Democrat from Holly, said during a telephone town hall Thursday night that communities need to look at any local regulations that may make it harder to build housing and start considering how to utilize newly allocated federal funds to convert abandoned properties into housing.

“Start thinking about, as local officials, how you are going to work as a team for local electives and getting some of that money,” Slotkin said.

Housing bill becomes law without Trump’s signature

The housing package, known as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, overhauls several areas of housing policy in an effort to make it easier for builders to construct new units and potential buyers to secure federally backed loans.

Slotkin said her office plans to hold a Zoom call with mayors and city council members throughout the state to walk through the opportunities that will be available for communities.

Slotkin said that’s as the average age of first-time homebuyers has slipped from 29 in the 1990s to 40 today.

“What we need in this state – and I mean need badly – are young families who are going to live here, make their life here, pay taxes here, invest in the community over the long term,” Slotkin said. “We definitely need to grow as a state. We have been getting older and losing population, and I would say it’s downright existential that we grow.”

But she said some areas of the state have regulations making it hard to build new housing and struggle with how aggressively to regulate short-term rentals like Airbnb and Vrbo.

“What we’re seeing in some of our hottest communities, especially up north and on the west side of the state, is people who work to keep the city and the community running cannot afford to live anywhere near the community,” Slotkin said. “And that’s a problem for a whole bunch of reasons.”

Slotkin said local leaders “need to take the bull by the horns and make some important local policy decisions.” She encouraged people to participate in local government meetings “and to have sort of an urgency about it,” predicting that “you’re going to find a lot of allies to link arms with,” including police officers, firefighters, teachers and nurses.

But Slotkin said existing homeowners are also feeling the squeeze as costs have gone up but wages have remained stagnant. That leaves many residents with tough choices, like paying their mortgage or feeding their kids, she said.

“It is juggling to the extreme that’s going on right now across our state and across the country,” Slotkin said.

While Slotkin didn’t directly address a question about whether to divert funds currently providing aid to Israel to instead invest in building homes domestically, she said weapons are just one part of a Pentagon budget that has ballooned to $1 trillion for the first time.

She said a proposal to again increase defense spending at a rate four times that of domestic spending is a tough sell.

“If a family’s priorities are shown in how they spend their money, same thing with a government,” Slotkin said. “And I say that as someone who worked at the Pentagon and worked at the CIA and believes in protecting our country.”