After many ups and downs, and a nearly 10-hour filibuster in the Senate last night, a bill concept that ERN CT has worked on for five years saw passage.
Within SB 998 is a section that says if the Department of Housing determines that a municipality is "inclusive,” then the school district becomes eligible for a five percentage point increase to the rate of reimbursement for school construction projects. The aim is to incentivize building more affordable housing and inclusive communities.
We developed this policy in partnership with our allies in housing advocacy, linking affordable housing access with educational opportunity. Enacting inclusive zoning policies locally will enable students from lower-income families to live in more communities with high-performing schools, allow many Connecticut towns to benefit from a more diverse community, and provide the well-documented economic gains of increased housing options.
By linking housing and school construction, this bill addresses yet another way that—beyond levels of direct school funding—structural inequities lead to unjust levels of educational opportunity.