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1     AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the H+T
5 Affordability Index Act.
 
6     Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds and
7 declares all of the following:
8         (1) Illinois public transportation planning suffers
9     from a deficiency of State-level priorities and vision as
10     expressed through a strategic statewide transportation
11     plan to guide expansions and improvements to public
12     transportation networks across the State.
13         (2) Eighty-seven percent of Illinois' population
14     resides in 11 metropolitan areas, the places where 93% of
15     the State's gross domestic product is created.
16         (3) Regional visions and priorities are established by
17     Metropolitan Planning Organizations for urban areas
18     without reference to or guidance from a higher set of State
19     planning goals necessary to maximize the usefulness of all
20     modes of transportation, including public transit.
21         (4) Traditional definitions of affordability focus
22     only on housing costs and ignore transportation costs, the
23     second largest and fastest growing expenditure in a

 

 

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1     household budget.
2         (5) The use of the H+T Affordability Index would help
3     establish more accurate assessments of cost of living in a
4     community by combining housing and transportation costs.
5         (6) The Center for Neighborhood Technology's analysis
6     of housing and transportation costs in 54 metro areas
7     demonstrates that housing and transportation costs equal
8     to 48% of income represents an achievable goal.
9         (7) True affordability is derived from living in
10     compact, mixed-use transit-rich communities where homes
11     are located near shopping, schools, and work.
12         (8) Residents of communities with low transportation
13     costs benefit from using transit to get around, owning
14     fewer cars, and driving them shorter distances, thereby
15     reducing environmental impacts in addition to lowering
16     their cost of living.
17         (9) A housing and transportation affordability
18     standard and screening criterion would be an appropriate
19     tool for guiding State plans and investments in housing,
20     economic development, transportation, and other public
21     facilities.
 
22     Section 10. Definitions. For purposes of this Act:
23     "ARRA" means the American Recovery and Revitalization Act
24 of 2009, more commonly known as the Stimulus Package, which
25 allocated funding to both transportation and community

 

 

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1 development efforts.
2     "CDB" means the Illinois Capital Development Board, which
3 is responsible for overseeing the design, construction,
4 repair, and renovation for State-funded, public buildings,
5 including, but not limited to, schools, colleges, museums, and
6 State recreation areas.
7     "Center for Neighborhood Technology" or "CNT" means the
8 Center for Neighborhood Technology, an Illinois private,
9 non-profit organization dedicated to finding sustainable
10 solutions to urban environmental and quality of life problems.
11     "DCEO" means the Department of Commerce and Economic
12 Opportunity, which is responsible for improving Illinois'
13 competitiveness in the global economy by administering
14 economic and workforce development programs.
15     "H+T Affordability Index" means the Housing and
16 Transportation Affordability Index, a tool designed by the
17 Center for Neighborhood Technology, which maps the combined
18 costs of housing and transportation for neighborhoods within a
19 metropolitan area.
20     "IDOT" means the Department of Transportation, which is
21 responsible for statewide planning of transportation and
22 transit development.
23     "IFA" means the Illinois Finance Authority, which is
24 responsible for issuing taxable and tax-exempt bonds, making
25 loans, and investing capital in initiatives that stimulate the
26 economy and create jobs.

 

 

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1     "IHDA" means the Illinois Housing Development Authority,
2 which is responsible for statewide planning of affordable
3 housing and community development.
4     "Metropolitan Planning Organization" refers to a regional
5 policy body, required by the federal government in urbanized
6 areas with populations over 50,000 to carry out the
7 metropolitan transportation planning requirements of federal
8 highway and transit legislation.
 
9     Section 15. Adoption of the H+T Affordability Index as a
10 State standard. The H+T Affordability Index shall be adopted by
11 CDB, DCEO, IDOT, IFA, and IHDA (1) as a tool for the
12 development of statewide plans and (2) as a criterion in the
13 allocation of funding for transit, highways, economic
14 development, and housing projects; the distribution of
15 economic incentives to businesses; and the siting of public
16 facilities in Metropolitan Planning Organization areas.
 
17     Section 20. Adoption of H+T Affordability Index; agencies.
18     (a) DCEO, IDOT, IFA, and IHDA shall create a State
19 definition of affordability that incorporates both housing and
20 transportation costs and shall incorporate that definition
21 into all relevant statutes, plans, policies, and programs.
22     (b) DCEO, IDOT, IFA and IHDA shall use the H+T
23 Affordability Index to incorporate housing and transportation
24 affordability as a criterion for screening and prioritizing

 

 

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1 investments in transportation, housing, and economic
2 development projects.
3     (c) CDB shall use the H+T Affordability Index to include
4 housing and transportation affordability as a criterion for
5 siting new public buildings.
6     (d) IDOT shall condition all transportation expansion
7 funds upon planning and zoning for compact, mixed-use
8 communities that include an affordable housing component,
9 which complies with the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal
10 Act.
11     (e) IDOT and IHDA shall jointly undertake to create an
12 integrated statewide housing and transportation plan utilizing
13 the H+T Affordability Index that is designed to guide
14 investments in transportation and housing while yielding
15 affordable housing and transportation costs for Illinois
16 communities.