Senate Bill 2831

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A "TASK FORCE TO STUDY RESIDENTIAL HOME OWNERSHIP AND ATTAINABILITY IN MISSISSIPPI AND THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN CORPORATE ENTITY PURCHASE PRACTICES ON PRICE AND AVAILABILITY"; TO PRESCRIBE THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE TASK FORCE AND PROVIDE FOR ITS ORGANIZATION; TO PROVIDE FOR A REPORT BY THE TASK FORCE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) There is hereby established the "Task Force to Study Residential Home Ownership and Attainability in Mississippi and the Impact of Foreign Corporate Entity Purchase Practices on Price and Availability" to develop a recommendation to the Legislature and the housing industry relative to the availability and affordability of housing in Mississippi where the job growth is not creating new housing to accommodate that job growth, and to propose legislation based upon its recommendation.

(2) The members of the task force shall be as follows:

(a) The President of the Mississippi Association of Realtors, or his designee;

(b) The President of the Mississippi Bankers Association, or his designee;

(d) The Chairmen of the Senate Business and Financial Institutions and the House Banking Committees, or their designees; and

(e) The Director of the Mississippi Research and Economic Development Center, or his designee.

(3) The task force shall meet within forty-five (45) days of the effective date of this act, upon the call of the Governor, and shall review and research the following issues relating to home attainability:

(a) Long-term housing underproduction is a driver of national housing challenges, and current market conditions, economic uncertainty, rising inflation, high costs of materials, high labor costs and limited worker availability, are likely to further restrain the market from catching up to meet demand;

(b) Demand for United States homes from foreign corporate purchases practices, where the source of funds of investment is primarily venture capital, whether through a Mississippi domestic corporate entity or a foreign corporate entity that removes residential housing from the market, driving up prices and exacerbating concerns over housing availability and affordability. In 2023, thirteen percent (13%) of foreign buyers of property in the United States were from China, making Chinese buyers the largest foreign buyer group in that year;

(c) A lack of attainable housing in established markets such as Mississippi is a contributing factor in some employers and households deciding to relocate to lower-cost markets. While the national housing production shortage matters, shortfalls at the regional level are even more important;

(d) While still offering a larger supply of attainable housing, many growing regions have not demonstrated that they can produce enough housing of the right type in the right locations to keep these markets from raising the cost of developing new housing;

(e) Regions that are seeing sharp job growth are not creating new housing quickly enough to accommodate that job growth;

(f) Should the state consider legislative action to encourage local communities to change their zoning rules and height restrictions and the time delays that permit for new construction entails which adversely affects the development of available and affordable housing;

(g) Should Mississippi act to address the unfavorable foreign corporate entity purchase practices with venture capital funding in the residential housing market to encourage availability and affordability. Should the state identify the actual ownership of residential properties and require identification accurate enough to have a contact entity for code compliance.

(4) The task force may request the assistance of the Economic Development Research departments at Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi and The University of Southern Mississippi and Jackson State University or any other related organization with expertise in attainable housing.

(5) The members of the task force shall elect a chair from among the members. The task force shall develop and report its findings and recommendations for proposed legislation to the Legislature on or before December 1, 2024. A quorum of the membership shall be required to approve any final report and recommendation. Members of the task force shall be reimbursed for necessary travel expense in the same manner as public employees are reimbursed for official duties from any available funds, and members of the Legislature shall be reimbursed in the same manner as for attending out-of-session committee meetings.

(6) The Mississippi Association of Realtors and the Mississippi Bankers Association shall jointly provide necessary clerical support for the meetings of the task force and the preparation of the report. Proposed legislation shall be prepared by the Legislative Services Offices of the Senate and House as requested.

(7) Upon presentation of its report the task force shall be dissolved.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.