Assemblymen Rob Clifton and Alex Sauickie voted against the bill changing the affordable housing system and increasing towns’ construction obligations for the next decade when it came to the Assembly floor for a vote on Monday.

“Mandating municipalities build high-density housing projects, but refusing to address the school funding failures or infrastructure limitations will burden taxpayers who will be left to foot the bill to accommodate the influx of new residents,” Clifton (R-Monmouth) said. “We all agree that New Jersey is unaffordable, but demanding more development in suburban and rural communities will only drive up the costs.” 

The bill (A4) changing the affordable housing rules passed 51 to 28 along party lines.

“Building thousands of units in a town before considering the environmental impacts, public transportation availability, public safety staffing, or public school funding is completely irresponsible,” Sauickie (R-Ocean) said. “Municipalities’ budgets and resources will suffer while government-mandated overdevelopment increases costs of living for residents. The Legislature needs to focus on making New Jersey more affordable instead of forcing taxpayers to subsidize more housing developments.”