9. Housing Affordability and Community Stability
CORE PROMISE: Housing costs must come down - and families should be able to stay in the communities they built.
Maryland families — especially in Prince George’s and Charles Counties, have the highest property taxes in the district — and are being crushed by rising housing costs, skyrocketing rent, and unpredictable assessments.
Many residents in Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary’s are also being pushed out of their communities as costs rise faster than wages.
Meanwhile:
Affordable housing production is far below demand.
Zoning restrictions and bureaucratic red tape block new construction.
Predatory landlords, corporate investors, and rent-gouging companies raise prices without justification.
Counties struggle because the commercial tax base is too small — forcing homeowners to pay more.
Federal housing support and grant programs are underutilized or slowed by complex processes.
Maryland’s Fifth District deserves communities where families can afford to live, grow, and stay — not neighborhoods that price out the very people who built them.
HOW I’LL WORK TO FIX IT:
Increase housing supply faster by cutting red tape (establish enforceable targets for federally funded housing) and incentivizing affordable builds
Protect homeowners from being taxed out of homes they have already paid for by supporting income-based, state property-tax relief and federal tax credits
Expand federal housing grants and builder incentives tied to affordability outcomes
Protect renters with fair enforcement against illegal practices and exploitative rent hikes
Help first-time homebuyers with targeted down-payment support and fair lending enforcement
Stop hedge funds from swallowing single-family neighborhoods through federal rules and tax policy
Convert underused public properties into housing where feasible and community-supported
Work to convert underused federal properties into affordable housing units
Provide grants for adaptive reuse of vacant buildings
Strengthen public housing oversight and modernization funding
MD-05 FOCUS POINT:
I will advocate to lower housing cost and stabilize assessments - and pursue federal investment that grows the local community tax base, so counties aren’t forced to lean so hard on homeowners
