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Lawmakers say Save the American Dream Act is designed to promote affordable housing

 

On Wednesday, May 7, Rep. Jake Johnson announced that agreements with various stakeholders had been reached on House Bill 765, the Save the American Dream Act. 

Johnson says this bill resulted from years in which certain counties and municipalities “weaponized the zoning and permitting process against private landowners and builders.” Many oppose the bill, as it could open up local officials to potential lawsuits if a development isn’t approved.

Rep. Johnson claims the legislature was “left with little choice but to act against such egregious government overreach and stand up to those bad actors.” 

However, he acknowledged that the original version of the bill went too far in punishing good actors and did not narrowly target those in whom the bill sought to reign. 

“I voiced to local officials across the district that I would be advocating for their ability to continue handling land use regulations,” Johnson said in a press release on Thursday. “Today, I am happy to announce that in the latest agreement that was reached, many of the concerning provisions for local governments have been removed from the bill. The bill sponsors have added clarification that these potentially harmful provisions to small towns now only apply to the counties with populations over 275,000 people in the 2020 census. 

“I believe that if density requirements were altered to the extent originally proposed, it could have negative impacts on the rural characteristics of our small towns and counties, which is certainly not the intent of the bill. So, I am grateful to the stakeholders who came to the table and helped us make these welcome changes. I was born and raised in Polk County, and my priority is to maintain the rural aspects of our towns and counties while respecting the legal private property rights of all citizens.”

Johnson followed up with heavy criticism of the League of Municipalities, saying they had “known for years that a handful of their members were impeding the rights of private landowners and unfairly weaponizing permitting, zoning, and utilities.” 

“Yet, they took no action to correct this and refused to participate in thoughtful negotiations that would have benefited their members,” the press release says. “Their members should hold them accountable to prevent these types of bills in the future.”  

Johnson’s office said it is important to note that this bill is not subject to the House and Senate crossover deadline, meaning it can continue to be worked on during the legislature’s long and short sessions.