The best legislation we can pass is mandating all new construction be entirely environmentally resonant. This is actually very reasonable, and will save us billions, just as a practical measure. Hint: it’s not reasonable to let a developer bamboozle the rest of us into inefficient housing.
This type of construction solves a root cause of affordability, in the short and long term. We must also pass tax reform, locally in cooperation with state and county partners. One possibility is a land use tax only (no building tax), deriving the amount from the activity on the land/unit in question, more appropriately shifting the tax onto the highest activity, entity by entity.