Demings, Murphy, and Soto push back on Florida Legislature's handling of the Affordable Housing Trust

Focus on Congress/Focus on the Legislature

Central Florida congressional representatives Val Demings, Stephanie Murphy, and Darren Soto sent a letter to Florida Speaker of the House Jose R. Oliva and Minority Leader Kionne McGhee stating their concern with how the legislature is handling the William E. Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Here is the text of that letter:

"On October 23, 2019, we and other members of the Florida congressional delegation wrote to you and your counterparts in the Florida Senate to urge that revenue collected in the William E. Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Fund be used solely to support affordable housing programs in Fiscal Year 2020-2021 and that it not be diverted for other purposes, as has been the all-too-frequent practice.

Rep. Val Demings

We want to express our concern about the proposed legislation in the Florida House Transportation and Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee that shifts $240 million in Sadowski funds away from affordable housing programs. We respectfully ask that you reconsider this proposed course of action.

As you know, Florida has a severe shortage of affordable housing and nowhere is the problem more acute than the central Florida region. There are simply not enough affordable homes to buy or apartments to rent for the area's growing population.

Given the affordable housing crisis in Florida, we believe there is no reasonable basis to divert revenue collected for the Sadowski Fund to other causes. Affordable housing is far more than what some perceive as "just government-subsidized shelter.” The Fund was created to support programs that assist hard-working Floridians to obtain housing through new construction, down-payment assistance, home repairs, and more. It should be used for those purposes.

Thank you for your consideration of this important matter."