Michigan housing advocates are using the August primary election results as a springboard to reboot stalled housing reform legislation.
State lawmakers who cosponsored the Housing Readiness Package posted a striking primary record this election cycle. Of the package’s 24 cosponsors, 21 sought reelection this year.
Seventeen of those 21 faced no primary challenger. The four who did draw a challenger still won by an average margin of 47.2 percentage points. All the seats are considered generally safe bets come November.
Outgoing Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made an affordability push as a swan song to close out her term-limited tenure, in line with what lawmakers have been doing in other states. While the Housing Readiness Package stalled in the legislature, Whitmer has won on separate legislative efforts.
She signed single-stair reform into law in July. She followed that up by signing a bill that creates the state’s first Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program to match the federal credit.
Meanwhile, the nine-bill package that state lawmakers championed remains stuck in legislative limbo statewide. It remains in committee despite months of sponsor testimony and public hearings.
Local governments, wary of losing zoning authority over lot sizes and permitting, have pushed back hard against the package. Township associations flooded hearings with testimony opposing the state’s proposed preemption of local zoning control. But it also has support from many corners of the homebuilding industry and advocates for increasing housing supply.
Abundant Housing Michigan has seized on the primary election numbers as proof that voters reward housing reformers, citing national research from YIMBY Action and the Sightline Institute.
“You can lead on housing reform, call for statewide action on land use and zoning reform, and the electorate will reward you,” the organization noted in a statement.
LIHTC for the win
With the new tax credit law, Michigan now joins a long list of Midwestern states layering its own LIHTC credit on top of the federal program. The credit represents real progress after years of advocacy from housing groups statewide.
“Every Michigander deserves an affordable, quality place to call home,” Whitmer said at the bill signing.
The Michigan Housing Opportunity Tax Credit caps annual allocations at $42 million, which the state housing authority administers. It takes effect January 1, pairing with the federal credit for qualified affordable projects. Ohio and Missouri run larger programs, but Michigan’s credit still marks a first for the state.
State Sen. Jeff Irwin projected the credit could generate more than 2,500 affordable units annually once implemented.
Stepping up with single stair law
The single-stair law lets developers skip a costly second stairwell in smaller apartment buildings, freeing up floor space for actual living units. Under the updated code, buildings up to four stories can now use single-stair construction.
A second provision extends that allowance to buildings between five and six stories, provided enhanced fire-rated construction is installed.
Advocates say the reform will meaningfully lower construction costs for dense infill apartment projects statewide.
The broader zoning fight, though, remains unresolved, leaving the package’s fate genuinely uncertain heading into the fall session. Whether committee leadership eventually moves these bills likely depends far more on political pressure than electoral math.
