Connecticut’s state legislature last Wednesday passed a sweeping housing bill, HB 8002, in special session.

The bill aims to incentivize and accelerate housing development in cities and towns across Connecticut — including New Haven. Gov. Ned Lamont SOM ’80, who vetoed an earlier version of the bill in June, plans to sign the bill soon, he said in a press release.

“This is the first time we have a state-guided process to ensure that towns are planning and zoning for affordable housing,” Erin Boggs, the executive director of the Connecticut-based, housing-focused civil rights organization Open Communities Alliance, said in a phone interview. “Done right, this could have a tremendous positive impact.”

State housing bill poised to boost New Haven development, Elijah Hurewitz-Ravitch, Yale Daily News, November 20, 2025, available here