The Utah State Legislature adjourned on March 14 after a busy 45-day session. There were some notable successes for advocates leading the fight to end homelessness and housing poverty in Utah, but there is much work the legislature left undone. The legislature passed House Bill 371 (HB371), the “Consent to Services for Homeless Youth” bill. This legislation establishes that youth over the age of 15 can consent to shelter services and that organizations can take them in without fear of breaking any laws related to harboring a minor. Other legislation to prompt cities and towns to increase their rental housing production passed successfully, but without additional funding needed for housing production. Utah Housing Coalition, an NLIHC state partner, led advocacy efforts throughout the 2019 legislative session and is already at work to mobilize on the parts of their agenda that did not gain final approval this session.
The success of HB371 is built upon an earlier mobilization of youth with lived experience using homeless services. Utah Housing Coalition organized “Youth Day on the Hill” in December 2018 to highlight the experiences and challenges of unaccompanied homeless youth or young people aging out of foster care (see Memo, 12/17/2018). This event built a dialogue that led to Representative Elizabeth Weight (D) drafting HB371 in partnership with advocates. Beyond providing youth the right to consent to shelter, HB371 also expands the definition of homelessness to align with the federal McKinney-Vento Act definition, which allows youth who are “couch surfing” or living as guests in homes where they have no expectation of long-term occupancy to access homeless services. Many unaccompanied homeless youths were unable to access shelter and education supports under the previous narrow definition of homelessness. HB371 also makes it possible for youth experiencing homelessness to access state identification documents free of charge to establish their identity when applying for housing or services.
Another key piece of the housing agenda in 2019 was Senate Bill 34 (SB34), which requires cities to adjust their local housing plans or risk losing state transportation funding. The bill identifies a set of potential changes cities could make to be compliant. The changes include allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs), loosening density restrictions, reducing development impact fees, eliminating or reducing parking requirements for residential housing production, allowing single room occupancy (SRO) development, and participating in community land trusts. There are 19 options overall, and cities and towns must choose two to four, depending on the size of the local government. Passage of SB34 pushes local governments to step up their housing production to meet the needs of Utah’s rapidly growing population, with a focus on both low- and moderate-income housing options. Many local government leaders partnered with the Utah Housing Coalition to ensure SB34 would also include resources enabling the desired housing production. The proposal initially included $20 million in one-time funding and an increase of $4 million in annual funding to produce affordable housing, but the funding provisions were stripped from the final version of the bill.
“We are pleased to pass some important reforms through the leadership of our legislative partners in 2019,” said Tara Rollins, executive director of the Utah Housing Coalition. “We remain focused, though, on the work to secure more resources that will actually increase the production and preservation of affordable homes for low-income Utahans.”
For more information about advocacy efforts during the 2019 Utah legislative session, contact staff at the Utah Housing Coalition by emailing either Tara Rollins at [email protected] or June Hiatt at [email protected].