Gov. Hobbs vetoes affordable housing bill. Here's where first-time homebuyers can find hope

In her second year, Gov. Katie Hobbs has used her veto stamp much less than her first year.

By this time last year, the Democratic governor had denied a record-breaking 63 bills presented by the GOP-dominated Legislature. This year, Hobbs is at 42 vetoes.

Her second red stamp came across House Bill 2570, or the Arizona Starter Homes Act. Introduced by Rep. Leo Biasiucci, R-Lake Havasu City, it was intended to make homebuilding more efficient and thus more affordable.

But Hobbs said the bill couldn’t guarantee affordable home prices. She argued it went too far because it cut much of the local control cities have over development.

The bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who backed the bill said it was the best approach they had to the affordability dilemma that Arizona is in the middle of.

Rep. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, criticized the governor's move, saying that Arizona "continues to kick the can down the road" in regards to the housing crisis. Despite the rare across-the-aisle proposition being shot down, lawmakers say they haven’t given up and plan to work to make a meaningful impact on housing this session.

Arizona affordable housing solutions

This week on The Gaggle, a politics podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Mary Jo Pitzl is joined by housing expert Mark Stapp, the Fred E Taylor professor of real estate at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He says the solution is more complicated than it seems.

"There is no single one thing that we can say if we fix that, or if we reduce that particular cost, then the cost of the housing would come down uniformly across the metropolitan area, across the whole country for that matter. It's not going to happen," Stapp said.

Together, they talk about what would ease the crunch on housing prices, where buyers can still find hope and what Arizona politicians can learn from efforts made outside the state.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Governor Katie Hobbs vetoes Arizona Starter Homes Act. What's next?