Clashing housing availability, affordability proposals weighed in Springfield

By Sean Reed | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Plans to cut red tape and create less restrictive zoning laws statewide has been a major focus for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker this year.

The governor’s plan, defended by many Democrats in the General Assembly, has been put under the microscope and highly scrutinized in recent days.

The Building Up Illinois Developments housing initiative, or BUILD, is an extensive proposal that would make sweeping changes statewide, aimed at increasing housing supply, reducing costs, and speeding up development.

The plan was recommended to the Illinois legislature by the governor earlier this year, but has largely sat on the back burner until this week.

State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, defended the housing proposal alongside staff from the governor’s office and outside proponents in a hearing early Wednesday.

“[BUILD] creates a statewide floor for housing opportunity. It does not tell every community to look the same. It does not eliminate single-family homes. It does not erase local planning, but it does say that in the middle of a statewide housing shortage local rules cannot continue to make needed housing impossible to build,” Buckner said.

In response to Illinois Pritzker’s BUILD housing initiative, the Illinois Municipal League has put forward a housing proposal of their own: Reducing Expenses and Advancing Local, or REAL, Housing Act.

Brad Cole, executive officer of the IML, said the group released their housing plan after repeatedly being excluded from discussion of the BUILD plan.

Cole said being excluded, along with the nature of the proposal making state-wide changes to laws, was why the IML went forward with their own plan.

“We want to work with the state and local governments together. The BUILD initiative is just preempting local authority and setting statewide requirements,” Cole said. “The bottom line is one size does not fit all and just preempting local zoning authority doesn’t create any actual savings or affordability.”

The one point of agreement between all involved parties is the need to address the current state of housing in Illinois. The House Committee on Housing held a hearing on the topic Wednesday.

The key bill in question debated before the committee was House Bill 4964, which would essentially require real estate agents to publicly list all homes that are for sale, unless a seller voluntarily opts out.

Those in favor say the bill will address an ongoing problem of agents only listing homes through private, selective networks, even if a homeowner wants to make their listing public.

Private selling networks, according to bill proponents, reflect discriminatory practices from time before the Fair Housing Act, make it difficult for people to move into the state, and shut out small brokers.

The Illinois Realtors Association spoke in opposition to the bill, saying it codifies online listing platforms like Zillow into law, and restricts a seller’s private property rights by dictating how and when their property is listed for sale.

Lawmakers have only a few weeks of their spring legislative session remaining until it ends May 31. Extensive negotiations on housing proposals are likely to continue through the final hours.