(co-authored with Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, Ben Preis, Michael Saadine and AJ Herrmann)

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• First, the Action Plan highlights innovations across the five segments of the housing ecosystem: land, capital, construction, regulation, and governance. Any given tool, when paired with other tools from the Action Plan, should be complementary such that, taken together, the tools are greater than the sum of their parts. The theory of impact of the state and local action plan is that, within a given community, at least one tool from each of the five segments can be implemented, either by the local government, the state government, or the local civic sector. Implementing five or more tools simultaneously should have a catalytic impact in a region.

• Second, the Action Plan connects the roles of different actors in the housing ecosystem: state governments and housing finance agencies, local governments and public housing authorities, philanthropies, private sources of capital, and private companies. By engaging with national constituency groups such as the National Governors Association, National League of Cities, National Association of Counties, Urban Land Institute, National Multifamily Housing Council, and others, the Task Force’s Action Plan serves as a node between traditionally siloed components of the housing ecosystem to more efficiently diffuse innovations across the country.

• Third, the Action Plan largely draws on the innovations from members of the National Housing Crisis Task Force, who are coauthors of many of the tools in the action plan and describe in detail how the programs, policies, or processes were created and can be replicated. Additional learnings are drawn from the experience of Accelerator for America’s network of local leaders.

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1. Assess the tools that they already have at their disposal. Cities can use existing tools like the Housing Strategy Review from Local Housing Solutions, or the Housing Supply Accelerator Field Guide from the National League of Cities. Local Housing Solutions also provides a Housing Needs Assessment tool with data from PolicyMap that can serve as a valuable resource.

2. Convene the players in their housing ecosystem: the state government, county government, city government, philanthropic community, major employers, developers and homebuilders, financial institutions and investors, tenant advocates, and homeless service providers. States, counties, and cities should create a “Housing Strike Team” (outlined as a tool in the Governance section), and should also collaboratively agree to a “State and Local Compact” (a tool being developed for future release in the Governance section).

3. Identify the tools from the State and Local Housing Action Plan that can make an impact in their communities and identify the existing entities that are able to implement them. Outline Commitments to Action where each player commits to implementing their part of a localized plan.

4. Pass policies, create programs, and improve processes from the State and Local Housing Action Plan that can reduce the cost and speed of construction, preserve existing housing, and allow people of all backgrounds to afford to live in the places they wish to call home.

Earlier this week, the National Housing Crisis Task Force released an initial batch of six tools:

• Responding to a Crisis: Lessons from Atlanta’s Housing Strike Force

• Land Use, Permitting, and Building Code Reform: A Path Forward

• Housing Ballot Measures

• Expanding Housing Supply: A Call for Municipal Property Advisors

• “Right-Sizing” Property Tax Incentives to Increase Housing Affordability

• Pre-Purchasing to Increase Modular Construction Capacity

These tools are drafts, meant for public comment and engagement as the Task Force develops the rest of its State and Local Housing Action Plan over the coming months. They also represent an initial batch of tools that communities can implement right now to support their residents in a time of great uncertainty.

We cannot lose sight of the housing crisis, and we must continue to implement solutions now that set the foundations for long-term change towards a better housing system in the United States. You can find the introduction to the state and local action plan here, with a full description of all of the tools. As we continue to finalize the Action Plan, we will update and add to these tools. We hope you will take the time to review them and identify how your community can begin working toward implementing some or all of these innovative practices. If you have questions or feedback, please contact us.

Bruce Katz is the Founding Director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University. Mary Ellen Wiederwohl is the President and CEO of Accelerator for America. Benjamin Preis is the Director of the National Housing Crisis Task Force, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Nowak Lab. Michael Saadine is a Senior Advisor to the Nowak Lab and Managing Partner at Invisible Group, an interdisciplinary real estate investment platform. A.J. Herrmann is the Director of Policy and Program Innovation at Accelerator for America.