CA congressman: Defense Department should explain why it urged Katie Hobbs to veto an affordable housing bill

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A California congressman wants to know why the U.S. Department of Defense lobbied Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs to veto a bill aimed at spurring “starter home” construction.

“To me, this DOD kind of effort goes against (Biden’s) broader plan for the country,” Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia told the Arizona Mirror, citing efforts by the president to build more affordable housing. “It certainly raises a lot of questions for me as a former mayor who tried to build more housing development.”

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Garcia is a member of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

The vetoed legislation would have overruled local zoning decisions for many Arizona municipalities by barring cities and towns with more than 70,000 residents from regulating the size of lots for single-family homes. It also sought to bar cities and towns from forcing a homeowner into an HOA interfering with the “right to choose the features, amenities, structure, floor plan and interior and exterior design of a home.”

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