Indiana Black Legislative Caucus focuses on affordable housing
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The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus will focus its efforts this session on making housing more affordable and accessible.
Why it matters: Indianapolis has one of the highest eviction rates in the country.
- Half of all eviction cases are brought against Black renters and more than 60% are against women.
Driving the news: Caucus members have filed a raft of bills aimed at housing access and protections for renters.
- They want to establish a housing down payment assistance fund, prevent hedge funds from scooping up entire neighborhoods, prohibit home foreclosure due to medical debt and protect tenants from landlords that sell a rental property by requiring the new buyer to honor written lease agreements.
Plus: Rep. Cherrish Pryor (D-Indianapolis) is trying again to ban biases in home appraisals, inspired by the experience of an Indianapolis woman who saw her appraised home value double after having a white friend pose as the homeowner.
- Pryor first introduced the idea in 2022, but it hasn't gained traction, even after Statehouse leaders made housing affordability one of their priorities last year.
Between the lines: All members of the IBLC are Democrats, which puts them in the superminority at the Statehouse and puts the fate of their bills in the hands of their Republican colleagues.
- "I think that oftentimes situations have to happen to individuals in order for them to believe that certain things are actually happening," Pryor said. "And I just don't think that this issue is something that the supermajority wants to deal with."
The big picture: Long considered a relatively affordable place to own a home, the Indianapolis housing market became much tighter in the last couple of years as prices skyrocketed and mortgage rates rose, depressing supply and locking many Hoosiers out of homeownership.
What they're saying: "Owning a home is about far more than having a roof over your head," Rep. Earl Harris (D-East Chicago), chair of the IBLC, said. "It's about giving Hoosiers a sense of security and the ability to save up for upcoming milestones like sending your child to college, as well as for retirement."
What's next: Bills are being assigned to committees now. It will be up to committee chairs to decide whether they get a hearing.