Housing supply and permitting flagged for interim study by WCDA, builders and municipalities

Representatives of the Wyoming Community Development Authority, the Southeast Wyoming Builders Association and the Wyoming Association of Municipalities urged the Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions committee to include housing supply and permitting on the interim agenda.

Christopher Volsky, deputy executive director of the Wyoming Community Development Authority, said housing inventory is out of balance and recommended the committee continue interim work begun previously. “Housing’s a complex thing. It doesn’t exist in a vacuum,” Volsky said, asking the committee to use the interim to deep dive on tools that increase housing inventory.

Dan Dorris, representing the Southeast Wyoming Builders Association, cited six bills from the session that relate to housing supply and said only one received robust discussion this year. Ashley Hartstreet with the Wyoming Association of Municipalities urged the committee to consider permitting, utility and infrastructure-development barriers, and to explore leveraging community development reserves for long-term infrastructure needs.

Treasurer and other state officials reiterated the scale of the challenge: the WCDA’s planning documents were described as estimating multi‑billion-dollar needs for housing construction over coming years. Witnesses asked the committee to examine menu options, regulatory barriers, infrastructure funding, and ways the state can empower local communities to speed housing delivery.

Ending: Committee chairs told members to rank interim topics; housing was widely supported and will be considered when leaders consolidate member rankings for management council.