Pryor votes ‘no’ on Housing Task Force final report

INDIANAPOLIS – State Rep. Cherrish Pryor (D-Indianapolis) today voted against the final report from the Housing Task Force. Pryor released the following statement regarding her vote:

“There were a lot of good ideas included in this final report, including state funded financial literacy programs, more resources for brownfields redevelopment and the need to address substandard housing. Ultimately, though, I felt many solutions regarding the housing crisis in Indiana were too vague for me to support the report. I have concerns about the residential Tax Increment Financing (TIF) recommendation, the omission of evictions and changes to the tax sale that could be problematic for local government. Right now in Indiana, we have a severe shortage of affordable homes with the vast majority of low-income renters spending more than half of their annual income on rent. Our focus in the General Assembly needs to be creating a climate for affordable and low income housing that addresses the shortage of houses and rental units. While at the same time going after bad landlords and investors that don’t maintain their properties, oftentimes resulting in unhealthy living conditions. And while we didn’t recommend more specific solutions to discriminatory appraisals, I am hopeful the conversation will continue to be a topic at the state and federal levels.  I look forward to working with my colleagues in January to find real, long-term solutions to Indiana's housing crisis, and I think we can find many agreeable solutions that were not in the committee's final report.”