Housing is often considered a local issue, but there is a growing consensus in Harrisburg that state-level action is necessary to combat Pennsylvania’s persistent shortages and rising costs.

That shift can be seen in Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal, which would put $80 million toward funding public legal defense against evictions and anti-homelessness initiatives, and restarting a popular home repair grant program. It can also be seen in pending legislation that would preempt local zoning policies to spur housing construction and protect tenants amid increased evictions post-pandemic.

These policy changes aren’t a sure thing. Lawmakers who support them will likely face opposition from the lobbies representing municipal governments and landlords.

But the size and scope of the state’s housing shortfall makes doing nothing unpalatable for lawmakers in both major parties. By one estimate, Pennsylvania has a shortage of almost 100,000 housing units.

Deficit

The state will be hard-pressed to achieve its goals around economic competitiveness and education without addressing that deficit, said Dana Hanchin, CEO of Lancaster-based HDC mid-Atlantic, a nonprofit developer of affordable housing.

“We are constantly falling behind in meeting that need because of the systems that we have in place right now,” she said. The governor’s proposed budget is a start, Hanchin said, but “we need to be doing a lot more than we are to stop treading water or losing ground.”

Last year, Shapiro successfully pushed to expand a state program that gives older and disabled Pennsylvanians a partial refund on their rent and property taxes.

Now, he is taking aim at other housing challenges.

Additional funding for a statewide affordable housing program is one of the biggest.

Created in 2010, the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund provides grants to local governments, nonprofits, and developers to build affordable housing, provide rental assistance, and pay for home repairs, among other uses.

“It is the most flexible funding the commonwealth has in housing,” Robin Wiessmann, executive director of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, which runs the program, told lawmakers during a budget hearing in February. “It’s driven by community needs.”

The program receives three times as many applications as it can fund, Wiessmann said.

It has previously received bipartisan support: Lawmakers increased the program’s funding cap from $40 million to $60 million in 2022.

Home repairs, emergency housing

Shapiro also wants to direct $50 million to a popular state program that helps homeowners pay for essential repairs. The money can also be used to make units accessible for people with disabilities, improve energy efficiency, and provide construction-related workforce training.

Since it launched last year, the Whole-Homes Repair program has faced overwhelming demand, which has led to application windows as short as 24 hours in some counties and long waitlists.

The program was due to receive more funding in last year’s state budget, but lawmakers failed for months to reach a deal on additional legislation to allow the money to be spent. The final deal on those bills, reached in December, did not include more funding for the home repair program.

Shapiro is also proposing an extra $10 million for a program that addresses homelessness, an increase of more than 50%. The initiative has been flat-funded since at least 2016.

The governor’s budget proposal would additionally direct $5 million toward a new program that would rehouse people after natural disasters and other emergencies when other forms of state and federal aid might not be immediately available.

Eviction protections

The number of eviction cases filed in Pennsylvania dropped by more than 40% between 2019 and 2021 - the result of pandemic-era eviction bans and billions in rental assistance to help struggling tenants.

But those protections have now expired and the funding has been exhausted. In 2023, there were more eviction filings in Pennsylvania than in any year since 2019, according to state court data tracked by the Legal Services Corporation, a congressionally-established nonprofit.

Unlike in criminal proceedings, defendants in civil cases such as evictions aren’t guaranteed a right to an attorney. That leaves landlords far more likely than tenants to have legal representation during eviction proceedings.

Providing legal representation for low-income tenants across the state, as four other states have done, would cost Pennsylvania about $23 million per year, according to a 2021 study commissioned by the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network.

Such an investment, the study found, would save public dollars because fewer evictions would lead to less spending on homelessness, foster care, and emergency health care.

The governor wants to spend $5 million to match funding for legal representation provided by cities and counties. The Shapiro administration has not yet released specifics on how the limited funding would be prioritized.

Limit security deposits

Sealing isn’t the only tenant protection legislation state Democrats have pitched. They’ve also floated proposals to limit the size of renters’ security deposits, provide advance notice of when an eviction will take place, and implement rent control.

Taking it all in, Cohen said that landlords are protective of their future profitability.

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