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Business Leaders, Advocates Unite Around Call for Affordable Housing Investments

Chris Jensen for NHPR

Lawmakers and business leaders met with advocates in Bedford on Wednesday to talk about the link between affordable housing and New Hampshire's workforce.

State Sen. Dan Feltes, a Democrat from Concord, promoted his legislation that would put $25 million from the capital budget into the state’s affordable housing fund.

Elissa Margolin, who heads up NH Housing Action, said she’s pushing the governor to include those funds in his budget proposal. Business owner Matt Burke, who owns Las Olas Taqueria on the Seacoast, said he needs more affordable units for his employees, to keep his business viable.

“It is time for the state of New Hampshire, like every other New England state, like almost every other state in the country, to make a small public investment in the affordable housing fund,” Margolin said.

Feltes, describing the current landscape, said New Hampshire has a “housing emergency." To him, it's an issue that affects the state's competitiveness, and without further action, he says “we’re falling behind."

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