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The Impact – Senate Panel Interview on Housing Affordability

Mike McClanahan profile by Mike McClanahan

The Impact –  This week we look at the soaring price of home ownership and rising rent costs in Washington state. Leaders from both caucuses in the Senate  debate different strategies to increase the supply of affordable housing.   

 “We’re seeing a demand not just from people who live here but from people who live out of state and sometimes out of the country,” said Sen. Patty Kuderer (D-Bellevue), Chair, Senate Housing and Local Government Committee. 

“Housing these people in apartments is a little stop-gap measure, but we’ve got to get these people into homes because that’s what gets people out of poverty,” said Sen. Phil Fortunato (R-Auburn), Ranking Member, Senate Housing and Local Government Committee.

“I think what that home looks like varies depending on who that individual is. I mean, he envisions single family homes, I’m thinking you could have an ADU In a backyard where we are leveraging existing infrastructure,” said Kuderer.   

“Making the land that we do have buildable costs a lot more.  We need to make land more available which will stabilize the price,” said Fortunato.

Listen to the podcast here:

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-impact/id1551256140?uo=4

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL3Nob3cvNDc2MzM4MC9lcGlzb2Rlcy9mZWVk

https://castbox.fm/channel/id3823920?country=us

https://www.deezer.com/us/show/2297972