It is declared that:

A. unsanitary and unsafe dwelling accommodations exist in the state;

B. low- and moderate-income persons are forced to reside in unsanitary and unsafe accommodations;

C. within the state:

(1) there is a shortage of safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations available at rents that low- and moderate-income persons can afford;

(2) low- and moderate-income persons are forced to occupy overcrowded, congested dwelling accommodations; and

(3) these conditions cause an increase in and spread of disease and crime and constitute a menace to the health, safety, morals and welfare of the residents of the state and impair economic values;

D. excessive and disproportionate expenditures of public funds for crime prevention and punishment, public health and safety, fire and accident protection and other public services and facilities are necessitated;

E. private enterprise alone cannot meet the need or resolve the problems inherent in providing appropriate, safe, sanitary and sufficient housing for low- and moderate-income persons, and public participation in construction of low- and moderate-income housing does not compete with private enterprise;

F. demolition, replanning, reconstruction or renovation of unsanitary and unsafe housing and acquisition of land to provide safe and sanitary dwellings for low- and moderate-income persons are in the public interest and are essential state and local governmental functions requiring expenditures of public money; and

G. it is in the public interest that work on projects for demolition, planning, reconstruction, renovation and land acquisition for provision of safe and sanitary dwellings for low- and moderate-income persons be started immediately in order to relieve the housing shortage that has reached emergency status, and it is a necessity that the Regional Housing Law be continued to relieve that emergency.

History: Laws 1994, ch. 132, § 2; 1995, ch. 191, § 2; 2009, ch. 48, § 1.

Compiler's notes. — Laws 1995, ch. 191, § 25, effective June 16, 1995, repealed Laws 1994, ch. 132, § 30, which provided for the repeal of this section on July 1, 1995.

The 2009 amendment, effective March 31, 2009, in Subsections B, C, E, F and G added "moderate-income persons".

The 1995 amendment, effective June 16, 1995, divided Subsection C to form paragraphs, added "low-income" at the beginning of Paragraph (2) and "these" at the beginning of Paragraph (3), deleted "these conditions necessitate" from the beginning and added "are necessitated" at the end of Subsection D, rewrote Subsections E, F and G, and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.