Vice President JD Vance is giving voice to the ideas behind a controversial housing bill making its way through the Arizona Legislature.
The Starter Homes Act is a bipartisan bill designed to increase Arizona’s affordable housing supply by getting rid of certain zoning restrictions.
During a speech at the National League of Cities Conference on March 10, Vance said that’s what the Trump administration wants to do.
“On his first day in office, the president issued an executive order making it a priority to bring down prices for new buyers,” Vance said. “Now, part of that will come from slashing needless regulations, which according to some estimates, account for about 25% of a new single-family built today.”
Arizona Senate Republican leaders used Vance’s comments on housing and zoning to drum up support for the Starter Homes Act which is making its way through the legislative process.
“Vice President Vance Highlights Why Bipartisan Arizona Starter Homes Act is Needed to Help Citizens Achieve American Dream of Homeownership,” Senate Republicans stated in a press release.
In Arizona, the Starter Homes Act faces opposition on several fronts.
1. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a version of the bill last year. This year’s version of the bill is opposed by the lobbying arm for Arizona municipalities, and faces opposition from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
2. Beyond the Capitol, some MAGA faithful have voiced their own opposition to the Starter Homes Act and accused Vance’s comments on social media. Tyler Bowyer with Turning Point Action, an Arizona-based political action committee focused on mobilizing young conservatives, called the bill “lobbyist filth” on Monday.
“Misusing @JDVance to promote ghetto tiny homes is not the American dream,” Bowyer posted.
3. Arizona Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) reposted Bowyer’s comments.
4. But some in Senate leadership, including Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) applauded Vance’s comments and reiterated their support for the Starter Homes Act.
Petersen recently met with officials in the Trump administration to discuss his priorities, but said he didn’t speak with Vance and doesn’t believe the vice president’s comments were in response to the visit.
"Private property rights have always been what has separated America from the rest of the world," Petersen said in a statement. "Unfortunately, local bureaucrats have implemented a disastrous amount of red tape, resulting in an entire generation of Arizonans being unable to purchase their own piece of the American Dream."
- Prior to joining KJZZ, Sanchez worked for two years at the Arizona Capitol Times covering the state Legislature, with a focus on the Arizona Senate.
- Sanchez studied journalism at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.
- In college, she interned at the East Bay Express in Oakland, ELLE Magazine in New York, and the Yonkers Times in Yonkers, New York.
- She then worked at the Arizona Republic as a Pulliam Fellow covering the city of Phoenix before entering the state politics reporting arena.
Sanchez was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and is now a proud California transplant.
Out of the office, she can be found playing volleyball, drinking coffee and/or still talking about politics.
She can be reached at csanchez@kjzz.org.
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