BY Charlotte Rene Woods
Bills that would seek to eliminate the cap on local housing grants to help government employees live in the communities they serve have been advancing in Virginia’s Senate and House of Delegates — but not without debate.
Current law, first implemented about two decades ago, allows up to $25,000 in grants to help government workers put down payments on purchasing homes. By removing the cap, Sen. Russett Perry, D-Loudoun and Del. Josh Thomas, D-Prince William, said their bills can help workers in areas with high housing costs.
The average price of homes in Loudoun are around $780,000 while homes in Prince William are priced around $574,000, according to Zillow. In Fredericksburg, the average price was $440,000 in December.
Perry has emphasized how teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, or municipal government staffers could benefit. She also noted that housing costs differ from locality to locality.
“When the people who rush toward danger, care for our children and show up for our communities every day can’t afford to live anywhere near where they work, something is broken,” she said in a message to The Mercury.
When imploring her colleagues to vote for the bill to pass the Senate chamber last week, Perry said the bills could show “you care about public servants being able to live in the communities where they work.”
But Republicans have pushed back on the bills as they have advanced through both chambers in recent weeks. They raised concerns that they would disproportionately benefit high-earning government workers in Northern Virginia and warned about the potential fiscal impact of having no limits on the grants.
Sen. David Sutterlein, R-Roanoke said he appreciates the existing program and has been open to the raising of its cap over the years, but he has “significant issues with it being completely unlimited.”
Countering that argument on the Senate floor ahead of its passage, Perry said that local governments ultimately fund their programs and it is up to them to determine how much they want or are able to disburse in grants.
Perry and Thomas’ proposals are among a slate of housing-focused bills that are advancing this year that range from ones that would nudge local governments to streamline approval processes in the hopes of expanding housing stock, to to others that enhance renters’ protections.
The Democrat-led housing initiatives are likely to advance to Gov. Spanberger’s desk where she can ultimately decide to sign, veto or amend them.
(This story first appeared in Virginia Mercury and is being republished here with permission.)
