The big ideas from Maine lawmakers to ease the housing crisis
Maine lawmakers will try to push zoning and tax changes, increased affordable housing production and more rent assistance through the State House in 2024.
Housing was among the major topics addressed on the list of nearly 300 bill titles proposed for next year’s legislative session. It was released Friday on the heels of a landmark state report that found Maine needs to construct at least 76,000 homes by 2030 to house its existing and future residents.
The contours of the debate will be familiar. A housing reform bill last year had to be watered down to get around concerns from municipalities. Similar changes proposed by Democrats could run into Maine’s strong history of local control, while it may be difficult for lawmakers to fund the spending plans favored by liberals and tax cuts preferred by conservatives.
One change from Rep. Marc Malon, D-Biddeford, would bar municipalities from rejecting manufactured homes as opposed to stick-built ones. Maine’s current law allows towns to limit the number of manufactured homes they have because of what Malon called an “unfortunate” stigma around mobile home parks.
“Loosening up our ability to create more housing units of all types — but especially some that can be more affordable — is going to be important,” he said.
Another proposed law along those lines comes from Sen. Ben Chipman, D-Portland, who is looking to bring municipalities into alignment with a state requirement that all housing units are a minimum of 200 square feet in size. Many places have larger requirements that dissuade denser developments. A project in Lewiston was rejected on those grounds in September.
Allowing the construction of smaller units is paramount to producing enough housing for Maine’s residents, said Chipman, who said he had college students, single people and seniors who live alone particularly in mind in sponsoring the measure.
One of the Republican proposals aimed at housing focuses on the tax code. Rep. Lucas Lanigan of Springvale is proposing eliminating lodging taxes on seniors as they move into assisted living facilities. Those fees can disincentivize seniors from moving out and selling their homes, he said, which would free up badly needed stock.
“Every dollar counts when you’re on a fixed income, with electricity, heat, food costs going up … and every time we turn around there’s another tax and another fee,” Lanigan said. “We need to start tightening the belt a little bit.”
There are other proposals on the subject as well. Sen. Mike Tipping, D-Orono, wants to boost assistance for first-time homebuyers and those with high rents. He didn’t respond to a request for comment on his measures.
The Legislature’s agenda on housing will be clear later this month, when a 10-member panel of leaders meets to allow new bills into the 2024 session. A majority of the Legislative Council must deem bills an “emergency” to allow them to be considered in even-numbered years.
With only the bills’ titles and draft summaries, Kate Dufour, a lobbyist with the Maine Municipal Association, said she couldn’t predict how they’ll be received by local regulators but that any incursions on their ability to regulate housing may get a poor reception.
“Generally we have problems with bills that present one-size-fits-all solutions and require every municipality to look the same,” Dufour said.