How to solve Tampa Bay’s affordable housing crisis.

In a guest column for the Tampa Bay Times, Eunic Ortiz, Democratic candidate for State Senate District 24, lays out the extent of the housing crisis in Tampa Bay and calls on the Legislature to use tools they already have to improve the situation.

Eunic writes, "Right now, the cost to rent in the Tampa Bay area has surpassed major cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and Austin. In fact, rents in the Tampa Bay area have been steadily increasing for the last 16 months, exceeding national averages.

This crisis is affecting all of us, and it’s disproportionately affecting our most vulnerable residents and over-burdened workforce. Everyone deserves the right to afford a safe place to live.

To find solutions, we typically look to our local and state governments, both of which have different levels of oversight to address this crisis head on. State leaders in Tallahassee have the opportunity to create an equitable playing field by fully funding affordable housing through the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund and allowing municipalities to decide what works best for them locally." Follow this link to read the rest of Eunic's column: https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2021/12/18/how-to-solve-tampa-bays-affordable-housing-crisis-column/

Clearly it's time to replace legislators who will not use the mechanisms already at their disposal to help Floridians facing a dire housing crisis. Support Democrats running for the Florida legislature, and volunteer to help the Pinellas Democratic Party register voters, reactivate voters, and get mail ballots into the hands of our voters!