FRANKFORT, Ky. — A major issue lawmakers said they hope to address this session in Frankfort is the lack of affordable housing.

What You Need To Know

  • Senate Bill 59 would remove some regulatory barriers to allow churches and faith-based organizations to build affordable housing units on their existing properties 

  • A local governmental body would still need to approve any proposed building or residence

  • State Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, sponsors the bill and said it has gained the support of some faith-based organizations 

  • The bill is awaiting to be assigned a committee

Senate Bill 59 would remove some regulatory barriers to allow churches and faith-based organizations to build affordable housing units on their existing properties while maintaining local oversight. The bill would allow churches or other organizations to bypass city or county zoning laws and allow building of residential units within their existing property lines.

“They don’t have to abide by the zoning laws, but what they do have to do is abide by all the building codes and they have to have approval of the governing body," said State Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon.

Higdon introduced the bill Wednesday. He serves on the Kentucky Housing Task Force. During the task force meetings, interim lawmakers were told the state is about 200,000 housing units short.

“It’s not just Kentucky," Higdon said. "It's across the country, and it all started about 2008 during the recession; the housing industry kind of really slowed down." 

Higdon said Kentucky has been behind ever since. He said religious organizations, including the Sisters of Loretto, support the initiative of building affordable housing.

“The bill that I filed, the inspiration for that came from Sister Joy Jensen at the Loretto Motherhouse and Sister of Loretto," Higdon said.

State Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, said she hasn’t read the bill yet but having affordable housing is important to letting individuals and families thrive.

“Anything that makes it easier for folks who want to build affordable housing to do so, I think it’s a good idea and something we should robustly debate as a legislative body," Chambers Armstrong said. 

Chambers Armstrong researches eviction and said the No. 1 cause is lack a of affordable housing. She said Louisville is about 10,000 units short and is looking at ways to better inform people of their legal rights and opportunities to participate in the process.

“My research has shown that whenever the research process is super speedy that sometimes you end up having people evicted, not because legally they should have been evicted but just because they didn’t have enough time to exercise their legal rights," Chambers Armstrong said.

Higdon said his bill is like measures introduced at the federal level.

“This is just a small piece of the puzzle," Higdon said.

If the Senate approves the bill, Rep. Sarge Pollock, R-Campbellsville, will carry it in the House. The bill is awaiting to be assigned a committee in the Senate.

Both senators said affordable housing is an issue affecting both urban and rural communities.

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