By Gloria Rebecca Gomez
Lawmakers are considering cutting the number of years the Arizona Department of Housing can continue to operate without legislative oversight after a state audit identified multiple problems with the agency’s policies, including inadequate fraud security measures that led to $2 million being wired to people pretending to represent a housing nonprofit.
On Tuesday, lawmakers on the House Commerce Committee unanimously greenlit the continued existence of the state housing department. The vote was part of a process known as a “sunset review,” during which the legislature scrutinizes a state agency’s performance and decides whether to reauthorize it for up to 10 years. Tuesday’s move forward for the housing department was tentative, with Republicans on the panel signaling their future approval on the chamber floor won’t come without restrictions for the agency.
Chairman Jeff Weninger, a Republican who represents Chandler, acknowledged that the department’s role as a bridge between the federal government and state housing initiatives is critical, but said that heightened regulation is necessary in light of its recent stumbles.
“Look, the Department of Housing has to continue,” he said. “We get a ton of money that comes in from the federal government, I think we all know that. The question is how long it continues and what can we put in there to make sure we have some safeguards?”
An October 2024 report from the Arizona Auditor General’s Office found that, despite setting aside nearly $1.26 billion for affordable housing initiatives, the department lacks a comprehensive process to figure out if those initiatives are actually working. An accompanying review of 12 housing projects that won grants from the department found that the agency routinely neglected its oversight responsibilities, putting the people living there at risk of unsanitary conditions and approving payment requests from grant recipients with incomplete documentation.
