Maryland faces real challenges including high housing costs, unsafe streets, aging transit systems, economic doldrums, and impacts from climate change. This legislative session, we have the opportunity to address these interconnected challenges with smart growth reforms.
Category: Statewide
Event materials: Maryland Housing Needs & Solutions: Why is housing unaffordable, and what can we do to fix it?
At this online event, we discussed two recent reports offering insight into why housing is so unaffordable, what its impact is, and what to do about it with a Maryland all star cast ⭐️:
- Kathryn Howell, PhD, Director of the National Center for Smart Growth, University of Maryland College Park & Associate Professor, Urban Studies & Planning Program
- Dani DiPietro, Policy Research Director, Office of the Comptroller of Maryland
- Natali Fani-González, Council President and District 6 Councilmember, Montgomery County, Maryland
- Moderated by Scott Gottbreht, PhD, Assistant Secretary for Policy, Strategy, & Research, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development
View the reports, presentations and event recording here:
- Presentation: Maryland Housing Needs Assessment 2025 Update
- Presentation: Housing and the Economy, MD Comptroller
- 2025 State Housing Needs Assessment, prepared by the National Center for Smart Growth for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development
- Housing & the Economy Report, the Comptroller of Maryland
- View the event recording on CSG’s Youtube channel
Testimony to the Montgomery County State Legislative Delegation in support of WMATA funding
Transit and transit-oriented development are critical to the economic competitiveness of Montgomery and the state.
Press Release: CSG welcomes Governor Moore’s executive order to boost housing production in Maryland
The Coalition for Smarter Growth commends the Moore-Miller administration for enacting the Housing Starts Here executive order, demonstrating Maryland’s commitment to building the homes we need in a strategic, sustainable, and inclusive way.
Take action: Support passage of MD transportation reforms!
Thanks to you and other advocates, we have advanced a set of transportation reform bills through the Maryland House of Delegates. Now we need to do a final push to win adoption in the Maryland Senate so Governor Moore can sign them into law!
This legislation to guide Maryland’s transportation priorities is especially important if the state adds new revenues and spending. Key bills in the Senate Budget & Taxation Committee that CSG supports are:
Transit-Oriented Development (HB 80) – MDOT’s amended bill relieves parking mandates and allows mixed use development in proximity to Metrorail, Purple Line, and most MARC stations. It also removes potential obstacles to transit-oriented development plans on state-owned land.
Transportation and Climate Alignment Act (HB 84) – MDOT is supporting this bill that would require the agency to evaluate its transportation projects to ensure they help Maryland meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets and provide alternatives to driving.
Metro Funding Modification Act (HB 467) – Maryland, DC and Virginia came together in 2018 to successfully fund Metro’s capital needs. As a result, Metro service today is faster, more frequent, and more reliable. However, the $500M in annual funding was not indexed to inflation, risking future funding shortfalls and declining reliability and safety. This bill would index the funding to inflation.
Work Group on Reorganization of MTA (HB 517) – Creates a study group to separate the MARC, Purple Line, and Commuter Bus systems from MTA’s local Baltimore transit focus. This would better ensure a focus on modernization and improved operations for MARC and a successful Purple Line service.
More transportation funding – The just released joint Senate/House budget proposal would increase transportation funding by $500 million per year using an increase in the state tax on capital gains and other measures.
Thanks for helping build a better Maryland!
Take action! Contact your representatives to support the Maryland Housing for Jobs Act
The Housing for Jobs Act (HB 503/SB 430) would set regional housing targets based on the number of jobs in a given set of counties grouped by their area of the state. It would set clear standards for approving and denying new housing when counties haven’t met their housing to jobs ration, giving extra credit to localities who create housing near transit and to those who create affordable housing.
Testimony: Maryland Housing for Jobs Act (HB 503/SB 430) – Support
Location matters when we build new housing. The Housing for Jobs Act will help to produce more of the homes Maryland needs in strategic locations tied to our transit network, our environmental health, and our economic success.
Testimony: Maryland FY26 DHCD Capital Budget
The work of DHCD and affordable housing practitioners across the state is essential to meeting this need and building more inclusive, equitable communities where all people can afford to live. We ask you to support the full FY26 DHCD capital budget request.
Testimony: Maryland Single-Staircase Building Study (HB489)
Single-staircase buildings offer a potential solution to several of the housing challenges Maryland faces. Modern fire safety requirements and building materials make it possible to build single-staircase buildings safely, and this study will help us update our state’s housing policies to reflect these advances.
MD Testimony: HB38, School Zones and Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances
Providing sufficient housing that people can afford is essential to ensure that Maryland is providing opportunities for all to live and thrive in our communities. For this reason, we ask you to support HB 38.
HB 38 will provide information that will help Maryland better understand where education investments are most needed, and will prevent school capacity from becoming an indefinite barrier to needed housing production.