AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A Maine legislative committee has approved an amended version of an affordable housing bill that aims to allow denser housing developments to fix a growing lack of affordable homes in the state.
The committee voted 8-3 on the bill Wednesday, but some lawmakers criticized it as no longer being extensive enough to fix the state’s housing crisis, while others believe it still overreaches local ordinances, The Portland Press Herald reported.
Supporters of the bill such as Sen. Craig Hickman, a Democrat from Winthrop, said “when you work a bill of this magnitude, you find out some things you’ve got to change. Everybody is upset, which means it was a good compromise.”
Republican lawmaker Rep. Joshua Morris, of Turner, voted against the bill, saying it is an effort to fix the state’s housing crisis but “I think still goes a little too far encroaching on municipal ordinances.”
The revised bill, co-sponsored by House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, a Democrat from Biddeford, would also offer municipalities financial assistance to review their land-use rules.
If the bill is passed in the legislature with a simple majority, it will go into effect after the legislature closes out its session. It will also cost the state about $3.5 million a year to implement the new programs, the newspaper said.
