Land Use - Regional Housing Infrastructure Gap (Housing for Jobs Act)

SB 430 requires Maryland's Department of Housing and Community Development and Department of Planning to annually calculate regional housing infrastructure gaps - measuring the shortage of housing units needed to achieve a 1.5 jobs-to-housing ratio in each designated region. It apportions these gaps to specific counties and cities, creating an "affirmative obligation" for jurisdictions with gaps to expedite approvals of housing projects and prohibiting denials without specific justifications. The law directly affects all Maryland counties and cities, particularly those in six defined regions (like Baltimore and Washington suburbs), by mandating state-level gap calculations and altering local housing approval processes to address housing shortages near job centers.