Вирджиния создала комиссию по снятию ограничений на строительство жилья

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s administration held its first meeting of the Commission on Unlocking Housing Production on Thursday in downtown Richmond. The commission was created by Spanberger's Executive Order 3, which aims to lower housing costs by increasing supply. She signed it on her first day in office. The commission will advise the administration on how state laws, regulations and administrative practices could be revised to increase housing production in the state. "If we do not act together to make housing more accessible, more affordable, we would potentially risk slowing our economic growth," Spanberger said at the meeting. "We potentially risk lowering our tax revenue. We potentially risk a declining level of productivity." The commission is headed by the Secretary of Commerce and Trade Carrie Chenery. Its more than 30 members, none of whom are legislators, include representatives from several state government agencies, as well as representatives from local government and industry. "The data are so clear: Virginia is facing a housing crisis," Spanberger said.  Some estimates show that Virginia is short roughly 300,000 affordable housing units and that about one-third of Virginia households face housing cost burdens. During this year's legislative session, Spanberger signed more than 100 of the General Assembly's housing-related bills into law. They include new housing financing tools, tenant protection laws and home ownership initiatives. "While all of these things are strong steps in the right direction, in order to continue making real progress, we have to make it easier and cheaper to build homes in Virginia," Spanberger said.  The commission will meet on an ongoing basis and provide Spanberger's office with updates every six months on housing production, an evaluation of barriers to production and suggestions for legislative, regulatory and administrative changes to remove barriers and facilitate housing production. The bulk of the meeting was closed to the public, and the press was asked to leave after Spanberger's opening remarks.  Anna Bryson (804) 649-6922 [email protected] Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.