CT Senate GOP: Despite ‘Emergency’, Dems Make No Appointments to New State Housing Panel

For Immediate Release 

Sen. Stephen Harding, Sen. Jeff Gordon, Sen. Rob Sampson today issued the following statement regarding the lack of Democrat appointments to the State of Connecticut’s newly created “Council on Housing Development”:

“Remember when Connecticut Democrats rushed House Bill 8002 through special session without a public hearing?

Remember how Connecticut Democrats did this because of what they called a ‘housing emergency’?

Yet, here we are, at the beginning of January, and Democrats haven’t gotten around to appointing anyone to this new housing panel.

Democrats still have not made the appointments for this issue they deem an ‘emergency’.

And no one seems to know when the Democrats’ appointments will get made, or even when the council will meet?

By law, the Democrats said the council must have its first meeting by Jan 1, 2026.

Yesterday came and went. No meeting.

Connecticut Democrats like to rush to make laws without public input, yet they cannot manage to actually follow the law. There’s no urgency, despite the Democrats’ so-called ‘emergency’.

Senate Republicans have made our appointment to the council.  Senate Republicans followed the law, and we are ready to go.

Meanwhile, Connecticut Democrats’ hypocrisy is on full display. Their inaction on their so-called  ‘emergency’ speaks volumes.”

The language in House Bill 8002 that establishes the council is below:

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2025/BA/PDF/2025HB-08002-R00SS1-BA.PDF

Sec. 14. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a Council on Housing Development to advise and assist the State Responsible Growth Coordinator in reviewing regulations, developing guidelines and establishing programs concerning the growth of housing in the state, and to approve or modify any municipal housing growth plan or regional housing growth plan if the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management has not acted on such plan in the time provided in section 5 or 6 of this act, as applicable. (b) The council shall consist of the following regular members: (1) The Governor, or the Governor’s designee; (2) the State Responsible Growth Coordinator; (3) the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary’s designee; (4) the Commissioner of Housing, or the commissioner’s designee; (5) the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, or the commissioner’s designee; (6) the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, or the commissioner’s designee; (7) the Commissioner of Transportation, or the commissioner’s designee; (8) the executive director of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, or the executive director’s designee; (9) the executive director of the Connecticut Municipal Development Authority, or the executive director’s designee; (10) the president pro tempore of the Senate, or the president’s designee; (11) the majority leader of the Senate, or the majority leader’s designee; (12) the speaker of the House of Representatives, or the speaker’s designee; (13) the majority leader of House of Representatives, or the majority leader’s designee; (14) the minority leader of the Senate, or the minority leader’s designee; (15) the minority leader of the House of Representatives, or the minority leader’s designee; (16) one individual appointed by the chairperson of the majority leaders’ roundtable group on affordable housing from the Senate; and (17) one individual appointed by the chairperson of the majority leaders’ roundtable group on affordable housing from the House of Representatives. (c) The chairpersons of the council shall be (1) the president pro tempore of the Senate, or the president’s designee, and (2) the speaker of the House of Representatives, or the speaker’s designee. (d) The administrative staff of the Connecticut Municipal Development Authority shall serve as the administrative staff of the council. (e) The council shall convene not later than January 1, 2026, and meet not less than once every six months thereafter, and more often upon the call of a chairperson, to: (1) Review and evaluate the plans, programs, regulations and policies of state or quasi-public agencies for opportunities to combine efforts and resources of such agencies to increase housing development; (2) Develop consistent reporting methods concerning data and documentation related to housing development; (3) Provide a forum to develop approaches to housing growth that balance both needs for conservation and development, including the need for additional housing and economic growth, the protection of natural resources and the maintenance and support for existing infrastructure; (4) Review existing discretionary grant programs to make recommendations to state or quasi-public agencies concerning the adherence of such programs with the goals established in the state plan of conservation and development adopted under chapter 297 of the general statutes. Such recommendations shall include, but need not be limited to, methods to increase the development of deed-restricted housing in transit-oriented districts and middle housing, as defined in section 8-1a of the general statutes; (5) Develop guidelines, in consultation with the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management and consistent with the requirements of subsection (j) of section 11 of this act, concerning the adoption and development of transit-oriented districts within qualifying transitoriented communities; and (6) Review applications for grants-in-aid under the housing growth program established pursuant to section 15 of this act, including any supporting materials submitted by an applicant in connection with such application, that have been submitted by the secretary to the council pursuant to section 15 of this act.