In the lead up to this week's elections, housing advocates and renters from around the country led successful campaigns for state and local ballot measures to address the affordable housing and homelessness crisis. On Election Day (11/5), voters approved numerous ballot measures to dedicate resources to affordable housing, strengthen tenant protections, and invest in solutions to homelessness.
Key successes include the following:
- Voters in Rhode Island passed a statewide bond measure that will dedicate $120 million to housing and community revitalization, including $80 million for affordable housing.
- Three local bond measures in North Carolina will collectively invest $135 million in affordable housing development.
- A $20 million bond measure in Baltimore, Maryland will support the city’s housing affordability program.
- Los Angeles County voters are on track to approve Measure A, a half-cent sales tax that will raise an estimated $1 billion annually for homelessness prevention, housing, and mental health services.
- New Orleans voters approved a measure that will establish a local Housing Trust Fund. The measure will allocate 2% of the city’s General Fund to the Housing Trust Fund, providing an estimated $15 to $20 million annually for affordable housing programs.
- In Hoboken, New Jersey, voters overwhelmingly defeated an attempt to dismantle the city’s rent control protections.
- Voters in Berkeley, California, are on track to pass Measure BB, a tenant-backed initiative strengthening the city’s rent stabilization ordinance and codifying tenants’ right to organize.
Stay tuned for more information about the newly enacted ballot measures in support of affordable housing.