Former housing adviser Earhart Blanca urges Senate to restore low‑income housing funds, calls for denser, taller development

Earhart Blanca, a retired housing policy adviser with decades of statewide affordable‑housing experience, told the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee in April that Vermont needs both more subsidy for the lowest‑income renters and regulatory changes to increase density and lower per‑unit development costs.

Blanca urged the Senate to press appropriators to restore about $27 million in additional state funding the House originally included for the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) and related programs, noting the House reduced that figure in its appropriations work and the governor’s recommendation did not include the full amount. Blanca said federal changes and the end of some pandemic funding increase the urgency of state support for low‑income rental housing.

Why it matters: Blanca framed the issue as a two‑part problem — rising construction and development costs that require greater density to amortize fixed costs, and a continuing shortage of deeply subsidized rental units for households at or below 30% of area median income. She contrasted long‑term savings from permanently affordable housing with the upfront cost of development.

Key funding and policy points: Blanca said the House had originally placed an additional $27 million into VHCB‑type funding but that appropriations reduced much of that; she asked the Senate to press colleagues in appropriations to restore greater funding for deeply affordable rental housing. She pointed to two federal and state funding risks: (1) the waning of pandemic (ARPA) funds that previously supported development; and (2) a floated possible loss of roughly $23 million in an unnamed federal program tied to heating and cooling assistance that would affect the state budget picture.

Examples and preservation: Blanca cited Northgate in Burlington as an example of public‑investment preservation that produced long‑term rent stabilization: an earlier $20 million legacy investment, she said, has produced housing with market rents today that are far below current unaffordable market levels. She also described challenges at Decker Towers — public housing facing operating and capital shortfalls — and discussed HUD tools such as RAD (Rental Assistance Demonstration) and HUD restructuring as possible avenues to stabilize operations.

Regulation and density: Blanca urged more permissive height and density rules for projects that receive state funding. She argued that increasing allowable floor‑area ratios and permitting taller buildings would spread fixed development costs over more units, lowering per‑unit costs and enabling more workforce and deeply affordable housing. “We can’t buy our way out of this problem,” Blanca told the committee, adding that higher density and targeted subsidy must work in tandem.

Numbers Blanca highlighted: she referenced an estimated shortfall of more than 20,000 permanently affordable units needed for households at or below 30% area median income nationwide (citing National Housing Coalition data), and suggested Burlington’s share of the five‑year need could be about 2,000 units. Blanca also noted the House’s additional VHCB funding ask and said the House appropriations version cut that to roughly $5 million while the original House committee version had been larger.

Next steps and ask to senators: Blanca asked senators to advocate with appropriators for additional VHCB and deeply affordable rental funding, to consider regulatory incentives for density tied to state funds, and to explore state help for public housing authorities confronting capital and operating shortfalls when federal support is inadequate.

Provenance: Testimony and Q&A with Earhart Blanca to the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee, April (transcript excerpted).