Amidst housing shortages, state lawmakers retry bill to accelerate affordable home construction | Top Stories

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (25NewsNow) — Many Central Illinois communities face housing shortages. Local lawmakers are sponsoring a bipartisan bill hoping to add more housing through tax credits.

Lawmakers hope that the Build Illinois Homes Act will pass this year, after several attempts in the past.

If passed, the tax credit will not have an immediate financial impact. It will only cost the state money after people live in newly built affordable housing, which will be years down the road.

Of the bill’s four sponsors, two are from Central Illinois.

According to co-sponsor Rep. Ryan Spain, a Republican from Peoria, this would be a relatively small tax credit at only $20 million annually.

“Really, it’s seeking to address the problem of affordable housing. We need much more of it throughout the state, especially in Peoria. We need to have people that can afford to live downtown, in the warehouse district,” Spain said.

Spain feels the area needs developers who can put together financially responsible projects.

Democrat Rep. Sharon Chung is a chief co-sponsor representing part of McLean County. She said as soon as the bill was reintroduced, she wanted to get involved.

Constituents frequently tell Chung they want to see more affordable housing.

“There’s not one magic, sort-of, bullet that we could use for that, we need to put in all sorts of things, so this is one of the pieces of the puzzle, I think, that could really help the problem,” she said.

The lobbying group Illinois Housing Council said the bill may have previously failed to make progress because the General Assembly felt less pressure to address affordable housing. Before, a federal grant fulfilled a similar role. The grant program was funded by American Rescue Plan money, so now that funding is gone.

Housing Council Executive Director Allison Clements told 25News that there was never any opposition to the bill, but it’s always a question of whether it will be a budget priority.

The bill is currently being looked at by the Revenue and Finance Committee. It will face a long road of committee hearings and votes before it could become law.

Governor J.B. Pritzker considered housing a priority in his annual budget address Wednesday. He asked the General Assembly to pass reforms he hopes will eliminate unnecessary barriers to housing.