Bill Aimed at Removing Affordable Housing Mandates Passes Louisiana State Senate

The Louisiana State Senate recently passed legislation to ban cities from mandating developers to include affordable housing in new apartment or condo projects. The proposed legislation would potentially affect New Orleans’ inclusionary zoning regulations. Earlier this year, the City Planning Commission recommended that the city council create a mandatory inclusionary zoning ordinance, which would dedicate at least 12 percent of new units in certain neighborhoods as affordable for low-income residents. Critics of the affordable housing mandates say that the policy discourages developers and drives prices upward, while proponents of the bill argue that the policy is needed to provide workforce housing for many of New Orleans’ tourist industry employees, who otherwise would not be able to afford living in the city. The State Senate’s measure passed on a 29-9 vote and will now be sent to the State House for consideration.