For decades, city codes required developers to build a minimum number of parking spots, regardless of whether future residents or businesses needed them. These mandates weren’t just arbitrary—they were costly.

Last year was a record year for disasters in the United States. A new report from the British charity International Institute for Environment and Development finds that 90 disasters were declared nationwide in 2024, from wildfires in California to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. The average number of annual disasters in the U.S. is about 55. The Federal Emergency Management Agency provides funding and recovery assistance to states after disasters. President Donald Trump criticized the agency in January 2025 when he visited hurricane-stricken western North Carolina. Though 41% of Americans lived in an area affected by disaster in 2024, according to the institute’s

HB 24 won’t solve everything, but it’s a strong step toward the basics: letting more people build homes in the places where people already want to live.

Soltas’s most provocative finding is that, after adjusting for neighborhood differences, inclusionary housing doesn’t appear much more expensive than other housing programs. It only seems costly because it deliberately locates affordable units in high-cost areas—something vouchers and tax credits typically don’t do.