JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — New laws of the land are moving forward Tuesday as the legislative session begins in Florida. Legislation on many hot-button issues will be discussed including education, abortion, firearms and affordable housing.
There are multiple housing bills to watch in the legislature. The median cost of a two-bedroom apartment in Jacksonville is more than $1400 a month, according to housing websites Zillow and Zumper.
CEO of LJD Jewish Family and Community Services Colleen Rodriguez says when renters are told they must make several times that amount of money or families are told they must rent something with more bedrooms, it becomes unaffordable.
"It's the people graduating college or getting out there getting their first job and they can't afford to get into an apartment by themselves," Rodriguez said. "It's people that have been living, like I said, in homes for years, have been paying their rent and suddenly, because the expenses have gone up, they're not able to cover the costs."
The “Keep Floridians Housed Act,” filed Friday by Democrats, would create a new state government department: the Department of Housing and Tenant Rights. It would also prohibit landlords from evicting tenants because they are domestic violence victims and it would put certain prohibitions on landlords.
The "Live Local Act," filed by mostly Republicans, would put $700 million toward affordable housing programs, ban local governments from imposing rent controls and give tax exemptions to landlords with units offered below market rate.
"They know that the pressure's on, housing is a big issue," said University of North Florida Sociology Professor David Jaffee about the "Live Local Act." "Now they need to show that they're doing something, but most of it is in the form of subsidies, tax breaks, incentives primarily for the private sector. I don't really think it's going to have a significant positive effect on affordable housing."
Jaffee started the Jax Rental Housing Project. Its research reports corporate landlords are to blame for the affordable rental housing crisis. Jaffee believes more needs to be done for tenants' rights for there to be more of an impact.
Jaffee and Rodriguez say the money that could be put toward affordable housing programs would be helpful.