Pritzker Housing Bills Face Pushback at Hearing

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s package of housing incentive bills got its first public hearing on Thursday, as pro-building groups and local governments weighed in on the agenda backed by the real estate industry.

The Building Up Illinois Development — or Build — plan is composed of six bills aimed at bringing down housing costs and increasing the housing supply. The flagship proposal would require local governments to allow developers to build duplexes, triplexes and other small multi-unit buildings on any lot over a certain size zoned for residential use. Other bills would require municipalities to allow accessory dwelling units statewide, cap residential parking requirements, set hard deadlines for permit review, standardize local impact fees and allow single-stairway residential buildings up to six stories.

The bills were brought up as a group in a hearing before the Illinois Legislature’s Executive Committee on Thursday. No votes were taken at the hearing.

Illinois Realtors CEO Jeff Baker said during the hearing that the proposed bills strike a balance between statewide authority and local decisionmaking, arguing that the bills are within the state’s power to set uniform rules for municipalities to follow.

“The real risk is that we preserve the status quo and keep more of our neighbors, our friends and families from being able to achieve their American dream,” Baker said.

The association representing Illinois’s municipalities, the Illinois Municipal League, voiced its opposition, arguing the policies are an unlawful preemption of local government authority and they ignore the specific needs of local communities.

Pritzker has centered the homebuilding proposals as a key policy goal this year and forged an alliance with the real estate industry, appearing at the Illinois Realtors’ lobby day for the first time earlier this month and praising the group for advocating for many of the policies that appeared in his package. The bills are aimed at responding to what proponents have identified as a housing shortage in the state.

Advocates from downstate communities like Bloomington-Normal and Champaign-Urbana said the housing shortage can be felt in their communities as well, arguing the affordability problems aren’t contained to Chicago.

Elizabeth Johnston, the chair of the McLean County Board — one of the only local governments in favor of the bills — said the county is short more than 7,000 housing units and typical inventory has fallen from 1,000 units to 200 units from a decade ago. The county includes the Bloomington-Normal metro area.

“Our population does appear stagnant, not because demand is low, but because people who want to live and work in McLean County cannot find a place,” Johnston said.

Representing the vast majority of local governments opposing the bills, Illinois Municipal League CEO Brad Cole framed the opposition as a home rule preemption, arguing the state lacks the authority to set zoning rules. He also pushed back against framing by proponents, including Pritzker, that the bills would create only a modest town-by-town increase in density.

“There’s nothing in these bills that allow for incrementalism by mandate,” he said. “So it’s not just one here and one there, it could be one everywhere.”

Romeoville Village Mayor John Noak also said the bills ignore site-specific needs like flood control, utility setbacks and emergency vehicle access that local planners take into consideration.

A separate opposition emerged from Chicago-based housing organizers who worry the bills would speed up displacement of longtime residents in rising-cost Chicago neighborhoods like Humboldt Park and Logan Square. They argued the bills should be coupled with tenant protection policies — like Chicago’s controversial Northwest Side Protection Ordinance — to keep tenants in place.

The city of Chicago has not taken a formal position on the bills. Jung Yoon, the chief of policy for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office, told lawmakers the city supports the policy goals of several of the bills, but requested several amendments and clarifications.

Olivia Ortega, a representative for Gov. JB Pritzker’s office, said the office was working on amendments to the bills based on feedback, including concerns about displacement and technical issues raised by local governments.

Sen. Bill Cunningham also suggested altering the bills to give local governments multiple options for changes rather than uniform statewide zoning rules proposed in the bills now, while requiring them to adopt the statewide standard if they do not choose an alternative. Cole said local governments would be more open to that, but wants municipalities to be involved in developing those options.

“We need a statewide policy on this,” Cunningham said. “But the municipalities have to be a part of the solution.”