Ohio Affordable Housing Market Target of New Legislation

Construction on Home

A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers wants to give taxpayer money to local communities that adopt pro-housing policies they say will create a healthier housing market.

Sponsors say the new bill introduced Tuesday would stabilize both home prices and rents and “revolutionize” how local governments approach housing supply by using state policy and resources to encourage innovation and access.

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Ranked-Choice Voting Push Continues at Minnesota Capitol

MN RCV

A pair of DFL lawmakers who fell short last year of gaining enough support in the legislature to turn Minnesota into a ranked-choice voting state aren’t giving up on their goal. They’ve just scaled back their efforts to more incremental steps.

On Wednesday, a committee in the state House approved a bill that would make it easier for cities across the state to implement ranked-choice voting as a method of electing local representation.

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Wisconsin Senate Approves Plan to Charge Local Governments for Withholding Public Information

Wisconsin Senators want to take away a strategy that some local governments have used to keep public information under wraps.

The State Senate on Wednesday approved SB 117, also known as The Open Government Protection Act, with a simple voice vote. The legislation would force local governments to pay the legal fees of people who sue over open records requests, even if the local government doesn’t technically lose the case.

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Report Finds $860 Million Lost in Homes Seized by Government

Local governments or lienholders have taken more than 8,950 homes with more than $860 million in equity from 2014 to 2021 under laws that allow them to seize properties for unpaid property taxes, according to a new report. 

Pacific Legal Foundation, which is working to ban the practice, found that taking property to pay property tax debts can be ruinous for people with small tax debts.

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Credit Rating Agency Warns Recession Could Trigger Property Tax Hikes

Fitch Ratings said Friday that the outlook for state and local governments was “deteriorating” and an expected recession could put pressure on state and local governments to raise property taxes.

“Local governments may face slowed growth or possibly contraction in tax revenues associated with real property valuations, which may trigger expenditure controls or revenue-raising measures to preserve budgetary stability,” Fitch Ratings Senior Director Michael Rinaldi said.

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