Texas 'victim' of own successes, says Senate committee on state's housing affordability

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Senate's Local Government committee met on Thursday to discuss issues related to the state's growing cost of housing, an interim priority placed on the committee members.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had previously tasked the committee to investigate issues around housing affordability. This hearing marks the committee's last meeting on the topic until the legislative session begins in 2025.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar was the first to testify before the committee. He presented a report prepared by his office, which found that the state has a shortage of more than 300,000 homes.

"[Affordability] is a major determinant of future economic growth," Hegar said. "While Texas is more affordable than other parts in our nation, we are not as affordable as we have in the past."

KXAN previously covered the report when it released in August.

Committee chair Sen. Paul Bettencourt said that the report, along with recent spikes in property appraisal values, shows that the Legislature needs to take action.

"One of the conclusions is, you know, Texas is somewhat of a victim of its own success," Bettencourt said. "We've lived through a growth cycle that most people can only dream about...this is putting a lot of pressure on on housing affordability."

Bettencourt said in the hearing that he's ready to embrace the state's growth.

"You either embrace growth and you want to have a growing economy, or you don't," he said. "We do hear a lot of people that say they don't want to grow. Well, if you're not growing, you're stagnant, or you're declining."

What can be done?

Hegar was clear with the committee: Some of the factors are not ones the Legislature can effect.

"As we continue to have economic success and growth, of people moving to the state and businesses, this is the new norm," he said about inflation and interest rates. "Some things you can control, [but] some things, you as the Senate and the members of legislature, cannot control. The ones we can, we need to try."

Key suggestions of the report are to reduce regulatory barriers, strengthen property rights and make public housing programs more transparent.

Hegar, when Sen. Sarah Eckhart asked about Texas' use of public funds to defray housing costs, said that the state doesn't have a "significant number of programs." He also said, in response to another of Eckhart's questions, that most of the public money for such programs comes from the federal and local governments.

"Just having dollar figures in a program obviously doesn't equate to effective outcomes," Hegar said.

"100% agreed, but you can't make an impact if you don't make an investment," said Eckhart in response. "When we're spending money, we should make sure it's effective, efficient, fair."

Should Texas sell state-owned land?

Eckhart, who has a career background in affordable housing law and policy, has thought about housing issue for a long time.

She suggested Texas sell off some of its larger, under-utilized properties. The idea seems to echo a campaign proposal from President-elect Donald Trump, who called for federal lands to be sold in order to develop residential property.

"The state owns a tremendous amount of property, particularly in major metropolitan areas, that is deeply underutilized. That property could be put in service of affordable multi-family [buildings]," she said.

An example of such a property? The Texas Department of Public Safety's facility on North Lamar Avenue.

"Just so I can get people's imaginations going...imagine the number of city blocks that DPS occupies on Lamar, and how much of those city blocks are surface parking lot,"

That property is around 2.63 million square feet, according to the Travis County CAD. For Austin, it takes up roughly 7,632 city blocks. As Eckhart notes, a large portion of it appears to be, on satellite maps, a surface-level parking lot.

"Just imagine what that corridor would look like, and how much money the state would make, from asking the private sector for redevelopment proposals to put in affordable housing co-located with DPS offices and structured parking garages," Eckhart said.