Tallahassee, FL– State lawmakers and coalition organizations are coming together to oppose HB 5401, a legislative proposal to sweep affordable housing dollars away from the Sadowski Trust Fund.
- WHO: Representatives Ben Diamond, Anna V. Eskamani, Omari Hardy, and Allison Tant and coalition partners
- WHAT: Virtual Press Conference to protect affordable housing trust fund dollars
- WHEN: Today, at 12:30pm-1:00pm
- WHERE: www.facebook.com/AnnaForFlorida
- RSVP: Press should email lauren.cooper@myfloridahouse.gov before 9am on March 29th for Zoom link.
Background:
Since 2008, the Florida Legislature has swept $2.01 billion in affordable housing dollars — more than a third of its total revenue — for other projects or programs. That means that as of 2019, Florida has lost out on the development of 167,000 affordable housing units.
This year, Florida has no excuse to sweep the trust funds. The state is receiving billions of dollars from the federal government via the American Rescue Plan that can be spent on water projects and the housing crisis has only gotten worse.
We need to dramatically increase the supply for affordable housing — stealing money from this essential trust fund to pay for other projects is the last thing the state should be considering.
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