Bills to help address Michigan’s affordable housing shortage by creating a tax credit for developers cleared a state Senate committee Tuesday with bipartisan support.
The legislation appears to mirror the “build, baby, build” approach endorsed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in her State of the State address earlier this year.
The three-bill package cleared the Michigan Senate Housing and Human Services Committee with bipartisan support. Senator Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor), who chairs the committee, said the package might be one of the few major accomplishments that remain possible in a divided Legislature and a tightening budget outlook.
“This is one of the few ideas that’s at the intersection of important and possible here in Lansing,” he told Michigan Public Radio.
“I do think that a tax credit is always an easier decision than a budget line item for various reasons. So, I think that’s part of it,” he said. “But I think what’s really driving this is just that all legislators are hearing from their residents that housing affordability is a crucial issue.”
But the legislation does cost money in tax revenue that would be set aside to pay for the credits. The proposal would set aside $100 million in 2027 to fund the credits, according to a Senate Fiscal Agency analysis.
The bills now go to the Senate floor.
The sole “no” vote on the committee was conservative Senator Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater). He said the tax credit would benefit a relatively small number of developers without fixing the larger problem.
“It’s still something that is effectively the state trying to subsidize its way out of a problem and I don’t think there are enough dollars out there to subsidize our way out of a housing challenge,” he said.
Lindsey has sponsored a bill to place a two-year moratorium on local residential development restrictions.
