Do Something: The week of February 26, 2024

HousingGGWash PolicyBy Alex Baca (DC Policy Director), Dan Reed (Regional Policy Director) February 29, 2024

Image by Dan Reed

Weekly, Regional Policy Director Dan Reed and DC Policy Director Alex Baca will share with you an action you can take in the immediate future that has the potential, sometimes great and sometimes small, to increase the number of homes in our region, decrease the trips people take by car, make all of it safer, and not screw people over in the process. This week: postcards from YIMBYtown; DC’s Downtown Action Plan; pet protections and transportation funding in Maryland; and curtains for accessory apartments in Virginia.

If you have any questions, email dreed@ggwash.org about Maryland and Virginia Do Somethings, and abaca@ggwash.org about Washington, DC, Do Somethings—or, about whatever you want to talk about.

DC

Greetings from Austin, where I write you after four days of talking about how to build more housing with my friends, fellow travelers, and some new faces. I’m about to get on the bus to the airport, and I’m regretting that I can’t stick around and explore Austin more. (The last time I was here was on election day 2016, and I can’t say that I remember much from it.)

Visiting a Texas city at this time in our nation’s political trajectory reminds me of the several years I lived in Cleveland, Ohio—a city that I really loved, and really miss. Being there, however, was never inseparable from the fact that the state didn’t really much want someone like me to access things I might need, such as healthcare, or civil-rights protections.

I moved home to DC six years ago, and I am grateful, daily, for the ability to live my life much more fully. I know that that is not true for everyone, even in DC, and a considerable component of why I feel that we need to build more housing, and more income-restricted, affordable housing, is because I think living in a place that’s accessible and safe is a way to allow people to live their lives more fully.

I don’t think that acknowledging that housing intersects with other issues in different ways for different people means every single other issue needs to be addressed, immediately, all of the time. This is simply not a workable strategy when your job is changing, and improving, public policy, as mine is. I’ve been to four (4!) YIMBYtown conferences (a housing advocacy event), including the first in Boulder in 2016, and I’ve observed that those of us in the conference’s rooms tend to spin around this reality without addressing it directly, lest we upset—well, what, or whom, I’m not exactly sure.

I don’t think actually there’s much to do beyond acknowledging that increased housing production in states that are increasingly unsafe for people who are, basically, an Other is, while a win for more housing, inherently contradictory if your support for more housing is one that values desegregation and inclusion, as does mine. Even acknowledging that felt like a challenge over the past few days. The term YIMBY isn’t really for me, and I don’t use it in my work, because—though we encompass what I think largely scans as YIMBY, which is broadly more housing construction—I don’t think it describes well what we do at Greater Greater Washington. I’m optimistic enough that the movement can handle that complexity while respecting people’s rights, even if that means discomfort for some. Perhaps I’ll blog some more about this.

Once you’ve sat with all that: Mayor Muriel Bowser has released a downtown action plan report that’s got some interesting stuff in it (consider the implications of the Height Act, and perhaps do something about them!), and some boring stuff (tax breaks galore). Give it a read and, if you’re downtown on Monday, get some free coffee—thereby participating in the current going revitalization strategy—and talk to the Office of Planning staff working on this. They’ll be holding office hours from 8:00-9:00 am at Compass Coffee at 1703 H Street NW and 10:00-11:00 am at Urban Roast at 916 G Street NW. I may perhaps make an appearance myself at Urban Roast. —AB

Maryland

Alex and I are in sunny Austin, Texas this week for the YIMBYtown conference, hanging out with our friends from across ~*the movement*~. Taking the bus in from the airport, you quickly see just how much this city is growing–cranes, for lease signs, construction dust. But the conversations I’ve had this week have been about something else: we’re meeting in a state where women and trans people are criminalized for seeking the care they need, and one of the speakers was Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, whose state passed a bunch of pro-housing laws last year while expelling Representative Zooey Zephyr, a trans lawmaker from the floor of the state house.

It doesn’t sit right with me. The YIMBY movement is about making it easier for more people to find housing, which means you need to be okay with different kinds of people. Abundant housing means an inclusive, pluralistic society, period. Making an example of folks like Greg Gianforte not only undermines that, but feeds the perception (unfair as it may be) that the movement is the province of white libertarian bros. We must do better.

Anyway, here’s what’s up in Maryland this week:

Between security deposits, pet rent, and breed restrictions, it’s no surprise that housing issues are a big reason why people have to give up their pets–and that burden falls hardest on people facing economic insecurity. There are two efforts right now that keep pets and their people together.

Last month, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich released his proposed regulations for rent stabilization, which include capping how much landlords can charge in pet fees and parking fees. Honestly: the point of rent stabilization is to make it easier for living beings to find stable, affordable homes, especially considering the county’s push to make parking requirements more flexible as a way to lower home prices (which Marc tried to kill this week). We’ll be asking the County Council, which has the final say, to say yes to lower pet fees, but not parking fees.

At the state level, House Bill 1179 would prevent landlords from banning pets, banning certain breeds (which does not keep people or dogs safe), or charging pet rent. It only applies to affordable housing developments that receive tax credits from the state (which is a lot because of how affordable housing works). Landlords could still prohibit dangerous dogs, which Maryland specifically defines not by breed, but as a dog that’s caused physical harm. We’re supporting HB 1179 and hope you will too.

Two more bills we’re supporting are both from Delegate Marc Korman, quickly emerging as the Transportation Funding GOAT this session. The Maryland Toll Rate Reform Act of 2024 (HB 1070) would tell the Maryland Toll Authority to find the “optimal” rate for raising the highway tolls Governor Hogan slashed several years ago, a big contributor to Maryland’s current budget problems. The Transportation Funding Act of 2024 (HB 1215)would charge a small fee on online deliveries and ride-hailing services like Lyft and Uber delivery drivers, which are super convenient for you and me but generate a lot of wear and tear on our roads. We’re happy to support both bills.

And don’t forget: Governor Moore’s Moore Housing, aka the Housing Expansion and Affordability Act, has its Senate hearing this Friday, March 1. We think it’s great and need you to show your support, especially for making its affordability requirements more flexible! Here’s our testimony.

If you have a few minutes and live in Montgomery County:

If you have a few minutes and live anywhere in Maryland:

If you have a few minutes and live anywhere in Maryland, here’s when you can submit testimony or sign up to speak:

For all of these bills, just follow these 9 sort of easy steps. All you have to say is “I think [SUCH AND SUCH BILL] is good, and the [COMMITTEE IT’S IN] should give it a favorable report.”–DR

Virginia

Bad news: Over the past six weeks, HB 900–a bill that would legalize accessory apartments across Virginia–died, came back to life, and has now died again as the House of Delegates has chosen to put it off to next year. Worse news: the Senate went into recess twice Tuesday because Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears misgendered trans senator Danica Roem and repeatedly refused to apologize, a reminder that what’s happening in Texas isn’t all that far from home. We’ll be back next week with more updates from the Virginia General Assembly.–DR

Your support of GGWash enables us, Dan and Alex, to do our jobs. Our jobs are knowing how development and planning works in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. If it’s appropriate to take action to advance our goals, which we hope you share, we can let you know what will have the most impact, and how to do it well. You can make a financial contribution to GGWash here.