The Honorable Ron Desantis,

Governor of Florida

Dear Governor DeSantis,

As I am writing this letter you have just successfully been reelected for your second term as
governor here in Florida and I am happy to say you received my vote. I stand behind many of your
policies when it comes to suppressing inflation, cutting taxes, and keeping Florida free of lockdowns
during the pandemic. Of these heavily discussed topics, I believe housing affordability should be of
paramount concern for Floridians. As I am certain you are already aware, the issue of the lack of
affordable housing in the state of Florida is a pressing one. Me being a sophomore in college at Florida
State University, it won’t be long until I as well as many others begin investing in the Florida housing
market, and having access to affordable housing is a major concern of mine. The reason I have such a
high concern for this issue is because of what we have already seen with the low homeownership rates of
millennials in the last few years. According to the Federal Reserve, millennials only account for 6.7
percent of household wealth even though adults ages 18-42 make up about a third of the U.S. population.
While young people struggle with increased rent and home prices the Biden administration is busy
promoting racial diversity in U.S. suburbs and spending massive amounts of taxpayer dollars on rail,
buses, and other transit that are used by a fraction of the population. This being said, it's obvious state
legislature must take charge in order to correct Biden’s missteps. In regards to what you Governor
DeSantis have done to aid in this issue, I would like to acknowledge the Florida Hometown Heroes
Housing Program which provides down payment and closing cost assistance totaling $100 million to law
enforcement officers, firefighters, educators, healthcare professionals, childcare employees, and active
military or veterans. My mother being a teacher, I understand the importance of assisting those who serve
their community. On top of this, you have also approved an additional $263 million to be allocated toward
affordable and workforce housing. Although these are great first steps in creating affordable housing, I am
worried they will still not be enough.

With this in mind, I believe I have a number of viable policy proposals to be considered for the
start of your second term. First, I would like to propose the provision of government subsidies to
incentivize lower rents, the creation of affordable homes, and banks to finance these homes. I know these
subsidies are well within the state’s power to grant considering the $21.8 billion surplus that was created
during your first term as governor. These subsidies could be used by the state government to partner with
private sector companies in order to build and rehabilitate more homes for low-income families. In
addition, subsidies can be used in the form of tax breaks for developers who create affordable housing or
landlords who lower their rent. Tax breaks could also be given to banks that finance affordable homes for
low-income families. Next, I believe an effective way to ensure low-income borrowers are able to
purchase homes is by enabling more small-balance mortgages to be given out by the government and
other government-sponsored agencies. Allowing mortgages of under $100,000 and reducing fees and
costs will allow low and middle-income families to purchase affordable homes. Lastly, local ordinances
should be passed that place regulations on individual and institutional investors. These real estate
investors purchase bulk quantities of single-family homes as rentals and are able to drive up rent prices in
the current market. This could be fixed by placing a cap on the number of rentals or requiring
homeowners to wait for one to two years before renting out their property. To end, I would like to thank
you for taking the time to read this message, and although you may have already heard these proposals to
one degree or another I hope that my concerns hold weight coming from a concerned Florida citizen and
voter. If you have any thoughts or anything you would like to say I would encourage you to please feel
free to write back.

Sincerely,
Collin W. Wright
https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/chart/#quarter:119;series:Net%20worth;
demographic:generation;population:1,3,5,7;units:levels;range:2017.1,2022.1

https://www.flgov.com/2022/05/23/governor-ron-desantis-announces-launch-of-florida-hometown-heroes
-housing-program/

https://www.flhousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Affordable-Housing-in-Florida-Book-WEB.pdf