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Are affordable housing mandates constitutional? Lawmakers respond to the affordability crisis nationwide
As many young Americans struggle to become homeowners, lawmakers nationwide are crafting legislation to ensure housing needs are met, sparking a debate on the constitutionality of affordable housing mandates.
The state of New Jersey is embattled in a lawsuit over its affordable housing mandates as city leaders argue the mandate is putting a strain on municipalities due to a lack of available infrastructure to meet the demands.
Fox News Digital chatted with Montvalle, NJ Mayor Michael Ghassali, who is leading the charge against the state, to get his take on the latest legislation.
BOTH HARRIS AND TRUMP NEED AN ANSWER TO HOUSING CRISIS
“Being the mayor of a small town, we have been building affordable housing for the last three rounds. In fact, about 10% of Montvale is affordable housing stock… What has happened is our infrastructure is affected,” Ghassali told Fox News Digital. “We have low water pressure. So, we have fire hydrants with low water pressure on the west side of town. Now, we have to add a second water tower. We have to add additional police officers… We passed a $30 million referendum to increase the size of the middle school because we need more space. The traffic has been a lot worse than ever before. It’s a small town, but it takes twenty minutes to go from one end to the other. So, it has affected our quality of life in town just by adding more people.”
The small-town mayor voiced his concerns over the law not taking into account affordable housing units in 62 urban aid municipalities and expressed a desire to work with the state in crafting a smart plan moving forward.
“I would love for Trenton and for the legislators to just listen to us and trust us,” Ghassali, told Fox News Digital. “We want to build, but our infrastructure doesn’t hold it. So, we asked for some time to just assess what we have before we could do more. … We know our towns. We know our streets. We know what we can and what we can’t do. We want to work with them. We don’t want to fight this. We need affordable housing. I have two sons who will not be able to afford to live in the town they grew up in. So, I get it. We need affordable housing. Just listen to us.”
On the opposite side of the country, California Gov. Gavin Newsom also introduced legislation to help give Americans affordable housing opportunities. Fox News Digital reached out to the governor’s office, who provided more information.
“(The governor) invested over $40 billion to boost affordable housing across the state, including through expanded state tax credits, infrastructure grants, and funding for climate-friendly housing,” the statement read, “(Along with investing) over $27 billion to address homelessness, with a focus on ending street encampments, (and) requiring first-ever regional homelessness plans for California for cities, counties, and CoC’s.”
Newsom has also planned for 1 million affordable housing units by 2030, pioneered the Homekey and Project Roomkey to get 72,000 people off the streets, put aside funding to address housing encampments, created renter protections and adopted a new framework on providing care to those experiencing psychosis, to name a few of the many measures shared by his office.
“No more excuses,” Newsom said in a September press release. “California is taking action to fix the decades-long homelessness, housing, and mental health crises. These new laws — paired with the state’s unprecedented resources — will deliver more housing, get people off the streets, and provide life-changing support that will benefit all Californians.”
Fox News Digital reached out to legal experts to way in on the constitutionality of the affordable housing fight.
The Wright Law Firm founder Jamie E. Wright said the debate delves into the “age-old struggle between state authority and local autonomy surrounding decision-making.”
“(In the New Jersey case), the state contends that ensuring low-income and middle-income families have access to housing is a vital interest according to the Mount Laurel doctrine,” she explained. “On the other hand, municipalities are resisting this mandate, arguing that it infringes upon their jurisdiction and disrupts their control over zoning and resources. At its core, the legal issue revolves around whether the state’s commitment to equity and anti-segregation goals trumps the independence of local governments. This discussion goes beyond housing; it’s a fight over determining the future direction of New Jersey communities.”
Raul Gastesi, attorney and co-Founder of Gastesi Lopez & Mestre, based in Miami, offered a different perspective on the constitutionality of affordable housing mandates, using the debate over Florida’s Live Local Act as an example.
“I believe that the mandates are constitutional so long as they are mandated by the state legislature and not the courts,” Gastesi said. “The issue of affordable housing is increasingly becoming a creature of state law as opposed to local or municipal law. The state legislators all too often believe that the local governments are exacerbating the housing shortage with local ordinances and zoning restrictions, including land use rules that make it extremely costly and difficult to construct multifamily housing.”
Fox News Digital reached out to New Jersey Senate Majority Whip Troy Singleton (D-Delran), who sponsored the state bill, to get his take on the lawsuit, but he did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
New Jersey Globe reported that Singleton said “affluent, suburban towns opposing affordable housing mandates is nothing new.”
“Same story, different day,” Singleton said, according to the New Jersey Globe. “What is incredibly offensive, beyond using taxpayer dollars to fund this politically-driven, superfluous lawsuit, is the attempt to use the legal process to intentionally delay our affordable housing laws – not by weeks or months, but years.”
Fox News Digital also reached out to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, which declined to comment on the pending legislation.
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MONTICELLO, Utah (KUTV) — The second-largest wildfire in the nation has burned more than 87,500 acres and destroyed five structures in southeastern Utah.
The Babylon Fire reached a total of 87,554 acres in San Juan County, officials with the U.S. Forest Service said in a Saturday morning update.
More resources arrived in the area, with 730 firefighters now working to control the wildfire, which remains at 0% containment.
The cause of the fire, which ignited on June 26, has not yet been determined.
MORE | Utah Wildfires:
Utah has the two largest wildfires in the nation, with the Babylon Fire about 9,000 acres smaller than the Cottonwood Fire. The Cottonwood Fire has burned 94,417 acres in Beaver and Piute Counties and is 25% contained.
While the fires both saw little growth overnight, officials said hot, dry weekend temperatures could potentially lead to increased fire activity. They said a Fire and Fuels Advisory has been issued for the state of Utah.
“This extreme dryness, combined with an unstable atmosphere, will naturally increase the potential for the fire to flare up and create large smoke columns,” officials said.
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National stand guard near the Washington Monument at the national mall, during an Independence Day event honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary on Saturday.
Rahmat Gul/AP
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Rahmat Gul/AP
Washington’s National Independence Day Parade has been canceled, according to an announcement from organizers late Friday night.
The parade had been scheduled to mark the nation’s 250th birthday and begin at 10:30 a.m EST. Saturday.
Todd Marcocci, president of Under The Sun Productions, which was overseeing the parade, said the move followed consultation with the National Park Service, the D.C. city government and Freedom 250, the nonprofit overseeing the anniversary celebrations. “This decision was made after extensive and careful consideration of the safety of our participants, spectators, and staff as the top priority,” he said.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued an extreme heat warning for the D.C. area, in effect from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET Saturday. The agency said heat index values, which combine temperature and humidity, are expected to reach between 110°F and 115°F, and warned that “heat related illnesses increase significantly during extreme heat and high humidity events.”
The NWS said that alongside the high humidity, early morning low temperatures in the 70s and 80s would mean “little to no overnight relief.” The service also warned that “prolonged excessive heat may impact power, water, and transportation systems.” A separate Code Purple air quality alert — indicating “very unhealthy” — is also in effect for D.C. on Saturday.
The cancellation came hours after Washington recorded its hottest day in decades. Reagan National Airport hit 102°F on Friday afternoon, breaking a record of 101°F for that specific date, which had stood since 1966. Saturday’s temperatures are forecast to approach or match that figure, which would make it the hottest July Fourth on record for the city.
The parade cancellation affected participants who had traveled specifically for the event, including 80 students in the Grand Island Senior High marching band from Nebraska, who had been due to perform. Their school district confirmed to a local TV station Friday night the band would no longer participate.
The heat has already disrupted other celebratory events in the city. The Great American State Fair on the National Mall shut its doors for several hours Friday afternoon before reopening at 5 p.m. U.S. Capitol police also confirmed that entry to Friday night’s “A Capitol Fourth” concert was delayed.
Cancellations and disruptions extend nationwide
Multiple events in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, were impacted by the extreme temperatures. A Friday Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade was canceled, while a Saturday fireworks show was postponed until midnight.
People watch as the French Air Force acrobatic squad Patrouille de France perform a flyover during the International Aerial Review on Saturday in New York.
Sydney Schaefer/AP
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Sydney Schaefer/AP
Many communities in Colorado, including Durango and Vale, have canceled their fireworks displays due to the risk of wildfires.
In Haddon Township, New Jersey, authorities canceled the Independence Day parade due to “oppressive heat and humidity” that was predicted. Parades in Leesburg and Fairfax, Virginia, and in Takoma Park and Laurel, Maryland, were also canceled because of the heat.
The heat wave extends well beyond the capital region. Around 120 million Americans across a swathe of the eastern and southern U.S. are facing some form of major or extreme heat risk on Saturday, according to the NWS’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
The backdrop to all of this is an anniversary for which the Trump administration has spent months preparing. In a proclamation issued Friday from Mount Rushmore, President Trump marked the semiquincentennial by invoking the Founders, Washington’s crossing of the Delaware and Valley Forge.
Runners in patriotic-colored tutus participate in a run on Independence Day in Huntington Beach, Calif. on Saturday.
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Jae C. Hong/AP
He also outlined a series of future ambitions — returning Americans to the Moon, reaching Mars, and leading in artificial intelligence. The administration organized tonight’s National Mall celebrations under the Freedom 250 banner, drawing criticism from Democrats.
Saturday’s fireworks display, billed by the White House as the largest in the country’s history, remains scheduled and is set to begin at 10:30 p.m. from the Washington Monument grounds, after a presidential speech that Trump promised would be “really long.”
However the NWS also warned of the possibility of “severe thunderstorms” into the afternoon and evening, that could produce “destructive wind gusts up to 70 to 80 mph.”
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