The true measure of society’s commitment to equality is whether its fortunate members are willing to sacrifice to provide for the less fortunate. Sadly, recent events in Glastonbury and Simsbury augur poorly for Connecticut’s commitment to one such sacrifice: affordable housing. Yet again, the haves are banding together to keep out the have-nots, with pernicious consequences likely to follow.

Perhaps no law in Connecticut history has been as needed and as hated as the Affordable Housing Act. The Legislature passed the act in 1989 following a report by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Housing, which found that Connecticut faced a housing crisis of enormous magnitude: Many regions had little or no affordable housing – defined as costing 30 percent or less of a household’s gross income – and many of the affordable units were deficient in various ways. In some towns, the lack of affordable housing prevented teachers, firefighters, and other public servants from living in the communities that they served. And in many regions, the lack of affordable housing resulted in de facto segregation.