Kentucky lawmakers are being asked to consider spending a portion of the state’s budget reserve trust fund for various needs. One of those requests spelled out by a multi-focused coalition group is to pump more money into affordable housing. Andrea Zang is with Kentucky Tenants. She said some of the Commonwealth’s affordable housing has not held up well.
“Ten..twenty..thirty years on the line..you look back at those units and they’re rotting..there’s really high eviction rates..they aren’t being taken care of. And so, we need more money to build affordable housing. We need to know that those units will last in the long term. That it’s worth the investment,” said Zang.
Zang said she can’t speak to new affordable housing units being constructed currently. But, the housing advocate would like to see a couple hundred million dollars put into the state’s affordable housing trust funds. Senate Budget Committee Chair Chris McDaniel said he’s aware of a lot of effort centering on affordable housing, but it’s too soon to say how much state money might be spent there.
“It will be something that gets considered. I don’t know how much will actually end up there yet. There’s probably a half dozen different proposals that I’ve seen floating around. So, I don’t know what, if anything. There is a lot of effort being place that way. I don’t know what ends up there or not in the end,” said McDaniel.
Kentucky General Assembly decisions about budget spending are not expected for a couple of months.
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