{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/after-statewide-housing-listening-tour-murphy-announces-support-for-five-bills-to-address-housing-crisis", "After Statewide Housing Listening Tour, Murphy Announces Support for Five Bills to Address Housing Crisis", "2023-12-13", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "CT", "Christopher Murphy", "M001169", "www.murphy.senate.gov", "chrismurphy", "https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2013Following the completion of his statewide housing listening tour, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday announced his support for a slate of five pieces of legislation aimed at expanding access to affordable housing. The tour included town halls in Windham, Waterbury, Wethersfield, and Fairfield where Murphy gathered feedback from constituents on the unique housing challenges they are facing, including the rising cost of rent, shortage of housing stock and lack of affordable housing, gentrification, blighted homes and poor housing conditions, and barriers to home ownership.\n\n\u201cThe number one issue I hear about all over Connecticut is the cost of housing. That\u2019s why I launched a statewide listening tour to learn more about the challenges facing people in cities, suburbs, and the more rural parts of our state. I talked to renters, homeowners, landlords, and people experiencing homelessness, and while there\u2019s no quick fix, I heard loud and clear that the federal government must do more to find solutions to this nationwide problem. These five bills won\u2019t alone solve the housing crisis, but would help address our country\u2019s massive shortage of affordable housing and provide resources so more families can afford a safe place to live. I\u2019m committed to working with my colleagues in the Senate, the administration, and the state legislature to make sure we are pulling all levers of government to solve this problem,\u201d said Murphy.\n\nMurphy co-sponsored the following bills:\n\nFair Housing Improvement Act: Would expand housing protections for low-income individuals and veterans by designating source of income and veteran status as protected classes\n\nChoice in Affordable Housing Act: Would incentivize landlord participation in the Housing Choice Voucher Section 8 program through one-time incentive payments to landlords, security deposit payments, bonuses to public housing agencies employing landlord liaisons, and other amounts for recruitment\n\nFamily Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act: Would create a new type of housing voucher aimed at ending homelessness among families with children\n\nYes In My Backyard (YIMBY) Act: Would encourage localities to eliminate discriminatory and burdensome zoning and land use policies to increase supply of affordable housing\n\nHousing Alignment and Coordination of Critical and Effective Supportive Health Services (ACCESS) Act: Would direct the Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Treasury to issue joint guidance on connecting Medicare beneficiaries to housing-related supports and services\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/after-statewide-housing-listening-tour-murphy-announces-support-for-five-bills-to-address-housing-crisis"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9984199423342943, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}