The Advisory Commission on Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing

In March 1990, Secretary Jack Kemp of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) appointed a 22-member commission to investigate the nature and extent of regulatory barriers to affordable housing and what to do about them. Chaired by Thomas Keane, ex-Republican governor of New Jersey, the Advisory Commission on Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing grappled with this issue for over a year, releasing its final report in early July 1991. As a commission member, I had an unusual opportunity to observe just how the commission worked and what it accomplished. This paper tries to put those two subjects in perspective. It has been written from the viewpoint of a longtime specialist on housing, who also served on the very first urban commission—the Douglas Commission—23 years ago.

Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing

A key factor in this regard is the personal relationship between the appointer of the commission and the commission’s chairman. A loyalist chairman tries to keep commission members focused on those narrow aspects of the subject the appointer had in mind. Making the appointer look good is a major goal for such a chairman. In contrast, an expansionist chairman is more interested in making a name for himself or herself or in exploring the issues involved in great depth. Such a chairman tries to broaden the commission’s scope and grandiose.

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