Albany State University sophomore Leah Cowen dreams of owning a home in Georgia one day, but worries she’ll never be able to afford it.
“It’s so important to me, because I do have parents who pay mortgages,” Cowen, 20, told Capital B Atlanta. “Seeing how it’s affecting them personally, and knowing that I’m gonna have to get there eventually, makes me concerned about the problems today.”
Cowen was one of dozens of Black housing policy reform supporters who participated in the housing justice community’s day at the Capitol on Feb. 25. The gathering was aimed at creating awareness of proposed new laws intended to lower the cost of housing, boost affordable housing stock, reduce homelessness, and increase tenant protections. It was organized by groups including Georgia Advancing Communities Together (ACT) and the Housing Justice League.
These are issues that Black Georgians are struggling with more than most, largely due to higher housing costs and lower wages, according to Georgia ACT President and CEO Bambie Hayes-Brown.
“Black people are paid significantly less than their white counterparts, and so that leaves us, and I say us, as a Black woman, more susceptible to housing insecurity,” Hayes-Brown told Capital B Atlanta. “[Low wages are] the largest contributor to homelessness and housing insecurity amongst the Black population.”
Friday is Crossover Day at the Capitol, the deadline for legislation introduced in the Georgia General Assembly to get passed in at least one of the two legislative chambers, the state House or the state Senate.
Bills that fail to advance by around midnight won’t get signed into law this year — unless they’re added as amendments to measures that have been passed.
Polls show affordability is a top priority for Georgia voters during this midterm election cycle. Yet several bills designed to address housing affordability-related concerns are facing an uphill battle to get signed into law this year.
Advocates are asking Georgians who want to see these issues addressed to contact their elected leaders, especially the chairs of committees to which these bills are assigned and demand they advance them.
“It’s important that we not just call on Black people when it’s convenient, but Black people lead from the front in this issue,” Hayes-Brown said.
These are five housing affordability related bills and key elected leaders who may decide their fate Friday.
HB 1115 (Limit private equity from buying single family homes)
Known as the End Home Poaching Act, HB 1115 would ban institutional investors and other businesses from obtaining, owning, or possessing interest in more than 2,000 single-family homes.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Derrick McCollum, R-Chestnut Mountain, introduced a similar measure last year, HB 555, that he said stalled due to intervention from real estate industry lobbyists who opposed it.
Limiting private equity firms from buying up single family homes has gained bipartisan support in Georgia and even from President Donald Trump.
The bill has been assigned to the House Government Affairs Committee chaired by state Rep. Victor Anderson, R-Cornelia, who will decide whether it gets voted on to advance.
HB 1132 (Reduced taxes on nonprofit affordable housing construction)
HB 1132 would lower the cost to build and rehab affordable housing units created by nonprofit groups and public charities, such as Habitat for Humanity, by making the construction materials exempt from state and local sales taxes.
The bill has gained bipartisan support. It is sponsored by state Rep. Lehman Franklin, R-Statesboro, and Stacey Evans, D-Atlanta. Its fate resides with Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
HB 61 (removing illegal squatters)
HB 61 gives law enforcement the authority to expel illegal squatters from a property without going through the formal eviction process. Housing justice advocates worry it can be used to persecute people living on the margins without due process.
House members voted 165-0 last year to advance HB 61. The bill was recommitted to the state Senate in January. Its structure was modified on Feb. 11. It’s been assigned to the state Senate’s Public Safety Committee, which is chaired by Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell.
HR 1032 (Study committee on raising minimum wage)
HR 1032 would create a House Study Committee to examine the impacts of raising Georgia’s minimum wage, an issue advocates say would help low-income Black Georgians better afford metro Atlanta’s elevated cost of living.
The measure was introduced by state Rep. Sheila Jones, D-Atlanta, in January. It has been assigned to the state House Industry and Labor Committee, which is chaired by state Rep. Bill Werkheiser, R-Glennville.
SB 251 (eliminate junk fees)
SB 251 aims to eliminate so-called junk fees that elevate monthly rental prices.
It would bar landlords from charging “deceptive” fees and failing to disclose the total price of rental properties.
State Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain, who introduced the legislation last year, says negotiations on the bill stalled after lobbyists from the Georgia Apartment Association opposed it.
The bill has failed to advance this year. It resides with the Economic Development and Tourism Committee, which is chaired by state Sen. Drew Echols, R-Gainesville.
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