December 9 - Preemption
Equitable Housing Preemption
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Description: This session examines state preemption of local authority to protect tenants, particularly during COVID, and expand affordable housing . Many state legislatures, in both “red” and “blue” states, preempt local governments from increasing housing supply, crafting inclusionary zoning, or implementing rent regulations to alleviate housing unaffordability. This dynamic has particularly come to a head during the COVID-19 pandemic as local governments have sought to impose eviction moratoriums and extend other support to burdened renters. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need for local government leadership on equitable housing policies, and even where state preemption exists, local governments may still be able advance housing equity through collaboration with the federal government through the American Rescue Plan.
Speakers: Nestor Davidson, Sarah Beth Gehl, Lauren A. Lowery, and Ben Winig
Nestor M. Davidson joined the Fordham Law School faculty in 2011 and was named the Albert A. Walsh Chair in Real Estate, Land Use and Property Law in 2017. He has published widely in the fields of state and local government law, property law, and affordable housing law and policy. He founded and is the faculty director of the Urban Law Center. Nestor earned his AB from Harvard College, his JD from Columbia Law School. He practiced with the firm of Latham and Watkins and served as Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Sarah Beth Gehl is the Research Director for the Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP). She served as policy director for a gubernatorial campaign and previously served as deputy director for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, where she specialized in tax policy. She founded Gehl Consulting to provide consulting services to maximize the policy and advocacy impacts of national and Georgia-based nonprofits. Sarah Beth has taught at the University of Georgia, Georgia State University, and Agnes Scott College. She received a Ph.D. in public policy through a joint program at Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia State University.
Lauren Lowery is the Program Director for Housing and Community Development at the National League of Cities. In her role at NLC, she develops strategies and provides thought leadership to municipal governments on housing policy and community development, approaching challenges with a human-centered design and racial equity lens. Prior to her role at NLC, Lauren worked in local government in the City of Norfolk, Virginia and City of Chattanooga. She received her Master in Public Administration from Georgia State University and B.A. from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
Benjamin D. Winig, JD, MPA, serves as LSSC’s Research Lead and as a member of the Legal Team. Ben is also the founder of ThinkForward Strategies, a consulting firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area. For over two decades, he has provided legal, policy, and strategic advice and counsel to local governments, community-based organizations, think tanks, and philanthropies. His recent work has focused on dismantling barriers that impede good governance and equitable policymaking.