Azzolina seeks support for affordable housing bills

New Jersey has the highest rate of apartment rentals of any state in the nation. Those retired New Jersey residents on fixed incomes are being forced to move to other states because of the cost of housing and prohibitive property taxes. Grandparents, after spending their entire lives in New Jersey, are leaving behind their children and grandchildren to live in other states where they can afford to pay for an affordable house and much lower property taxes (and auto insurance).

Many families are forced to choose which necessities they will do without to pay the rent or mortgage each month, according to the Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey, based in Freehold.

Many families are paying more than half of their income for housing. Others are living in overcrowded or substandard housing, the Collaborative Support group reports.

After years of studying the problem and promising housing reform, the state legislature finally has an opportunity to act this year to assist those who can no longer afford to live in New Jersey, where they were born, raised and lived their entire life.

I urge my colleagues in the state Assembly to support three critical bills to help our most needy citizens struggling to live in New Jersey. The three bills are:

• A-2591/S-1137 — the N.J. Multiple Dwelling State Tax Credit Act, which would provide up to $65 million in state tax credits annually and could double the production of affordable rental units built each year.

• A-3236/S2095 — the "Restore the Safety Net" bill, which would provide $2 million for programs for New Jersey’s 7,000 homeless veterans.

• A-2592/S-1138 — the N.J. Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Act, which would allocate $10 million in state tax credits annually to corporations that, in turn, would leverage $20 million in private funds to help community-based nonprofit organizations preserve and revitalize neighborhoods.

Assembly Speaker Jack Collins and acting Gov./Senate President Donald DiFrancesco must post these housing bills for a vote this year. We must help these citizens who desperately need a helping hand, and we must do it now.

Assemblyman Joseph Azzolina (R-13)

Middletown