HB 5002, a bold housing bill passed by both houses of the Democratic-led state legislature, has died ignominiously.

Gov. Ned Lamont has chosen to veto the bill, torpedoing his own party’s legislation. While Republicans cheer and a few Democrats breathe a sigh of relief, the bill’s defeat is a bad omen. HB 5002 offered the state a path out of its housing crisis, which will now assuredly worsen.

While opposition from the Republican Party was uniform, responsibility for the demise of HB 5002 ultimately falls on members of the Democratic Party. Despite strong backing from policy experts and advocates, influential voices from Connecticut’s wealthier suburbs formed a Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) coalition with the GOP, and persuaded Lamont to adopt a baffling stance on the home-affordability issue: deer-in-headlights indecision. This political inaction will harm young families, working folks, and the Democratic Party nationwide.

Why are homes so expensive here, anyways? Connecticut offers a high quality of life, strong public services, and access to major cultural and commercial hubs. Its climate is mild and under Lamont, the state has enjoyed fiscal stability. Unsurprisingly, many want to live here. But outdated zoning rules, defended by homeowners through local planning boards, make it hard to increase housing supply in order to keep up with demand. HB 5002 aimed to excise the regulations that make housing such a scarce, and thus expensive, commodity.

Some shrug off the crisis, “Not everyone gets to live in nice places.” But the people being priced out aren’t just undeserving out-of-state supplicants; they’re the next generation. Young people who did everything right, went to college and landed white-collar jobs, still can’t afford a modest home in much of Connecticut. When home costs explode it’s not just outsiders who are made to suffer.

Additionally, experts agree: the primary driver of homelessness is the price of housing. HB 5002 would have cut the red tape that chokes housing supply, lowering costs. With its veto, we can expect to see more people suffering the indignity of being unhoused in our public spaces. 

Those who are not homeless, but home-insecure (spending over 30% of their income on housing) will also feel the pinch. When supply is constrained and demand remains high, it’s not the 23-year-old software engineer who gets priced out; it’s the single mother working as a waitress. Democrats oppose gentrification, but by obstructing home construction, they make it inevitable.

So why would Democrats help kill a bill that would uplift groups they claim to support: working folks, the unhoused, and young families?

Many opposed HB 5002 because it would have taken planning prerogatives out of the hands of local communities, rules about what kind of housing can be built and where, and parking mandates. These rules may seem trivial, but suggesting their repeal sparks backlash. Progressive opponents of deregulation argue that greedy developers cannot be trusted to determine parking needs without a mandate. They believe that local authorities know what housing will fit best, not the imperious invisible hand of the free market. Others insist that new housing must wait for transportation upgrades, but then build neither bike paths nor homes.

Some of the objections were made in good faith. It’s fair to be skeptical of developer motives or to want growth that aligns with community character. But when the fear of hypothetical problems paralyzes us, existing issues only become worse. HB 5002 was imperfect, but by letting perfect become the enemy of the good, Democrats have made a grievous error.

I hope Connecticut’s legislators refocus on the housing crisis next session with unity and urgency. Democrats who lobbied Lamont to kill HB 5002 must recognize that their resistance to new housing does not just harm vulnerable communities, but also their own party’s continued survival.

After the 2020 census, congressional seats shifted. Liberal strongholds like New York and California lost representation in the House and have diminished power in presidential elections, while red states like Texas and Florida have gained influence. Why? Red states are building affordable homes, and people are voting with their feet.  No matter how desirable life is in California, New York, or Connecticut, if people can’t afford to live there, they’ll leave. When Democrats in blue states choke housing construction they sap their own electoral strength. By loudly insisting that you support more affordable housing, just not in your neighborhood, you make a Democratic candidate’s path to the presidency that much narrower.

In an earlier commentary, I compared the passage of HB 5002 to bitter but necessary medicine. By scrapping the bill, promising vague “improvements” in a future legislative session, Lamont and anti-housing Democrats have declined a shot of penicillin in order to explore the restorative possibilities of snake oil.

Matthew Silber lives in Norwalk.