The proposed legislation, Substitute Bill No. 1361, establishes a Housing Growth Fund aimed at providing grants to municipalities to enhance the availability of affordable housing and promote mixed-use and transit-oriented developments. The bill defines key terms such as "housing authority," "mixed-income development," and "housing growth score," and assigns the responsibility of administering the fund to the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development. The fund is allocated an annual budget of fifty million dollars, which will be distributed to eligible municipalities based on their housing growth scores, calculated from the number of dwelling units approved for construction in the previous fiscal year.

To qualify for grant funding, municipalities must meet specific criteria, including a minimum percentage of housing permits approved relative to state totals and a requirement for a certain number of affordable housing units. The bill also outlines the process for calculating housing growth scores and the penalties for municipalities that fail to provide necessary documentation. The act is set to take effect on October 1, 2025, and introduces new sections to the general statutes without deleting any existing legal language.