Some in Raleigh apparently do not learn from the past.
While a great deal of attention, press and otherwise, is being given to the budgetary process in the Legislature; several other items are slipping through with relatively little fanfare. Of particular interest is the Rocky Mount Fair Housing Ordinance (HB 459). The bill's primary function is to give the City of Rocky Mount the tools necessary to enforce provisions of the federal Fair Housing Act (FFHA), which in and of itself seems like a good thing. What needs to be addressed is the fact that certain enforcement provisions attached to the FFHA are what caused the recent collapse of the housing market, which kicked off the "worst economy since the great depression."
The fact that this bill has not been stopped yet is proof that Legislators still simply do not get it! You cannot socially engineer prosperity. It has to be earned. When you force banks to lend to risky borrowers, you put the entire economy in jeopardy. Is a $4 billion budget hole not big enough? The City of Rocky Mount is not the right place to conduct a housing "stress test."
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