Concrete foundations have been poured side-by-side for two new affordable homes in a west Phoenix neighborhood. A crew of volunteers with Habitat for Humanity is getting to work.
Among them is Rep. Sarah Liguori. She’s a Democrat who represents central Phoenix in Arizona’s House of Representatives, and she laughs, admitting she doesn’t have a lot of construction skills.
“Measure zero, hang nine times, I think is my motto,” Liguori says.
But pretty soon, she has a hardhat on and a nail gun in her hand. She helps Republican Rep. Kevin Payne frame a window for the side of one of the houses.
“This is exciting!” she says.
The Jan. 23 event was the first-ever Red and Blue Build hosted by Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona. The organization sells affordable homes to qualifying families. Volunteer construction crews are part of how they keep costs low.
Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona CEO Todd Rogers said the idea behind this event was to bring legislators from both sides of the aisle to lend a hand and — literally — hammer out their differences.
“When we’re so divided, even at our Thanksgiving tables, let’s just bring people out and say, ‘When we can build together and help a family, we’re changing the world,’” Rogers said.
But it was more than just a teambuilding opportunity — Rogers said these lawmakers have very real problems to solve.
According to the latest State of Housing in Arizona report from the Arizona Research Center for Housing Equity and Sustainability, Arizona’s population growth is still outpacing construction even as more homes are getting built, wages are not keeping up with the state’s home prices, homelessness in the state has reached a record-high, and Arizona’s cost of living has now surpassed the national average.
“If you’re spending 50% or 60% of your income on just housing, how are you affording medical costs or groceries or any of those other necessities?” Rogers said.
The legislative session kicked off earlier this month. And Liguori said reining in housing costs is a priority for the Governor and lawmakers from both parties.
“Housing is bipartisan, every district is suffering,” Liguori said. “Every district around the state, one of the top-three issues you hear — or my colleagues hear — is there is an affordability crisis in housing, and a lack of supply and choices of housing.”
More than 1,400 bills have already been introduced this session. Many relate to housing.
Liguori is backing a bill (HB 2644) to reinstate an affordable housing tax credit in Arizona. The state had an affordable housing tax credit program before, but it expired last year because lawmakers couldn’t agree on an extension.
Other Democrat-backed bills include proposals to invest more in the state’s Housing Trust Fund (HB 2711), or to narrow the list of reasons a landlord can evict a tenant (HB 2710).
In her State of the State address to mark the opening of this legislative session, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs also proposed a new Housing Acceleration Fund to boost housing supply in the state.
Meanwhile, Republicans are sponsoring bills to let school districts lease land for housing (HB 2383) and to prohibit municipalities from requiring new developments to establish costly HOAs (HB 2588).
Republican Rep. Selina Bliss is working with Habitat for Humanity on a bill (HB 2926) to reduce taxes for workforce housing developers and streamline the permitting process for their projects.
“We all know delays and prolonged time in the construction industry means more cost — as they say, time is money,” Bliss said.
She has also introduced bills (HB 2429, HB 2430) to give municipalities more control over rules for short-term rentals.
But Bliss pointed out, with so many bills filed, there are challenges ahead.
“If every other legislator is sponsoring a short-term rental bill, I think people will get confused,” Bliss said.
The process to get a bill through committees, the House, the Senate and onto the governor’s desk is a long one.
Republicans have slim majorities in both chambers and whatever bills they pass must get approval from Democratic Gov. Hobbs, who holds records for the number of bills she has vetoed in a single session.
Of 1,724 bills introduced last year, just 265 became law. And few of those addressed the issue of housing affordability.
“Housing is very difficult to move at the legislature, and it’s not an ideological split, that’s what’s really fascinating,” said Steve Kaiser, a former Republican state lawmaker. Now, Kaiser has his own policy firm, and he’s working with Habitat for Humanity on its legislative goals.
Kaiser said housing is a rare area where a lot of Republicans and Democrats could potentially find common ground.
“I think where the pushback comes from is NIMBYism, frankly — people that are afraid of change, they don’t want any development in their community,” Kaiser said.
And the stakes continue to get higher year after year, Kaiser said.
“If we don’t build more housing, we will have increased homelessness, increased taxes, and increased home-prices where your kids will not be able to live in the same state as you,” Kaiser said.
As committee hearings begin, it remains to be seen which, if any, bills to alleviate the state’s housing shortage will gain traction this year.
Back at Habitat for Humanity’s lawmaker volunteer event, just three of Arizona’s 90 legislators — Liguori, Payne and Bliss —showed up to volunteer. Organizers said they hope to make the Red and Blue Build an annual event, and they hope more legislators will join next year.
Rep. Liguori hopes so, too.
“We are at the Capitol, and we talk about policy and debate policy,” Liguori said. “But until we can go out and experience it in the real world, and visit the organizations and the people that the policy whose lives we’re affecting — I think that brings us great insight and perspective that is needed.”
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