Housing for Maryland’s Workforce

BY LISA MAY

Though they may not admit it, most elected officials have thought about their legacy. What impact will they make? How will they be remembered? What were their key accomplishments?

While we are only at the midway point of Governor Wes Moore’s administration, addressing Maryland’s housing crisis is shaping up to be a key theme of his time in office.

Last year, Moore succeeded in passing the Housing Expansion and Affordability Act, which codified Middle Housing for the first time, expanded opportunities for manufactured homes, and granted bonus density for qualified housing projects near transit, on former government and military installations, and on parcels owned by non-profits.

That alone is more than most of Maryland’s past governors can claim on housing. But the administration isn’t stopping there.

This session, Moore is introducing the Housing for Jobs Act of 2025.

The premise is simple: Maryland needs to have enough housing units to support its workforce. That is defined as one housing unit for every 1.5 jobs in the region.

In many areas of the state, we aren’t meeting that standard.

Under the Act, when a county or region has a jobs-to-housing ratio above 1.5, that jurisdiction will only be able to reject new housing units for specific reasons. Those include:

• A shortage of water or sewer capacity

• Specific adverse health or safety impacts to residents

• Insufficient county-wide school capacity

• Conflicts with state or federal law

• Use of agricultural, industrial or conservation land, or

• Failure to meet objective development standards at the time of project submission

Further, when a locality denies a housing permit, they must provide specific reasons for the denial in writing. If the denial is not for an approved reason, the decision may be challenged in court.

These restrictions will remain in place until that area’s ratio falls below 1.5, as measured each year by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). In addition, localities that are currently below the ratio could be subject to the bill in the future if they experience sufficient job growth without corresponding housing growth to keep them below the 1.5 limit.

This accounting is not meant to provide a hard target for local governments to provide a certain number of units in a specific timeframe. However, it is an acknowledgment that current policies are not keeping pace with current needs.

Why the focus on tying housing to jobs?

Practically speaking, every city and county wants an abundance of jobs. What they and their residents may not favor is the additional housing which supports those jobs and those workers.

In outlining the case for this bill, the administration cited several factors. First, Maryland’s housing costs have far exceeded wage growth, which has resulted in the state ranking just 43rd in housing affordability. All of Maryland’s surrounding states rank significantly higher in affordability.

Maryland is also lagging in economic production from its construction sector, where housing permits issued have fallen 60% since 2008. This is one of the main reasons our state’s gross domestic product (GDP) is currently growing at half the national average. Of course, simply comparing jobs to housing units doesn’t tell the full story. Under DHCD’s analysis, Western Maryland, Southern Maryland, and the Eastern Shore all have ratios that fall below 1.5, at least for the current year. That should not be

taken to mean that those areas don’t have housing needs or challenges. While those areas may have enough units on paper, those units may not meet the needs of all residents or may not be affordable for the local workforce. It also doesn’t account for areas that need job growth but aren’t experiencing it, in some cases, due to a lack of housing options.

That’s why this legislation, like most housing legislation, is tackling just one piece of the puzzle. It will take multiple and sustained efforts to tackle a housing crisis that has been decades in the making.

So far, Governor Moore has been willing to take on housing as a core plank of his time in office. And what a legacy that would be for the residents of Maryland.

Lisa May is the Director of Advocacy and Public Policy for Maryland REALTORS®.