Rep. Kendrick rolls out package of bills aimed at affordability in Georgia

State Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick, D-Lithonia, recently introduced three pieces of legislation that aims to address affordability and economic mobility issues.

“Before affordability was like the buzzword, I’ve always worked on economic justice issues, so this is nothing new for me,” she said. “All these issues that we talk about down here are important… We can talk about voting rights and women’s rights and all these rights all day. It is on the pyramid of survival that you need to eat and have food and clothe yourself and have housing.”

Here are the bills Kendrick is proposing.

• House Bill 1016 would allow anyone living in a subdivision to request a squatter be removed from the premises. House Resolution 1046 is the accompanying constitutional amendment.
• House Bill 1017, with the accompanying constitutional amendment House Resolution 1047, would require real property purchased by businesses to be assessed at 100 percent rather than 40 percent of its fair market value.
• House Bill 1018 would exempt sales of clothing and school related supplies from sales and use tax during the month of August each year.

For House Bill 1016, Kendrick said the greatest way to wealth for many Americans is home ownership, and squatters diminish property values and make it difficult for people to sell their properties. This law would give property owners more rights to address issues with squatters.

“If you are living next to a squatter, like I was, and trying to sell your house, well, people that come and visit don’t want that energy,” she said.

House Bill 1017 addresses issues with investment companies buying properties to rent and inflating prices.

Although she didn’t want to ban corporate investment, Kendrick said she wanted to find a way to disincentivize investors.

“It’s a win win for the state of Georgia and for single family homes that have individual homeowners,” she said.

Georgia Republicans announced a plan to eliminate property taxes for homesteads by 2032 on Wednesday. Kendrick said that she had not read the legislation yet, but her proposal is a different approach to the issue than the Republicans.

“A lot of what they are doing is tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts, and we all know if you bring in less, you have less to do things with that I think government is responsible for. My approach is to disincentivize by adding more taxes on bad players and on people who I think can take the monetary blow of having less money,” she said.

Kendrick said House Bill 1018 tries to address everyday affordability issues for Georgians by reducing taxes on school supplies and clothes during the month of August.

“So for me, affordability is… what am I going to do today that is going to save me money?” she said. “I’m trying to get something in people’s pockets every day.”