HD-12 Special Election Questionnaire - Responses

Written By Ben Lyons

The housing shortage is a critical issue currently facing the citizens of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and Pennsylvania. We believe the solution to this crisis involves providing abundant and affordable housing for all. We fight for more housing because we want to reduce poverty, end homelessness, eliminate racial segregation, create jobs, and stop climate change, and we believe elected officials at every level play an important role in solving this crisis.

On August 18th, a special election will take place in Pennsylvania’s 12th State House district to fill the currently vacant seat. We asked the candidates running in this district what specific actions they would take to solve this crisis, if elected.

We received answers from Brandon Dukes. We did not receive answers from Scott Timko.

All of Brandon’s responses are published in full below, and informed our official endorsement of Brandon Dukes for State House District 12.

1. What has been your personal experience with housing in HD-12? Do you rent or own? If you own your home, how long ago did you buy it? Have you or do you know others who have struggled to find affordable housing in the area?

I currently own my own home that I recently bought back in May 2026. However, my first home was purchased in Oct 2020. Pricing was an issue as we were lucky enough to find both houses that fell within our price range. And do know of some who struggles to find houses that were affordable enough for them.

2. While Pittsburgh is often cited as one of the most affordable major metro areas in the country, housing prices have increased significantly in the area since 2020. What do you see as the largest contributing factors to the housing crisis in the Pittsburgh region, and HD-12 in particular? What policies would you support to fix these causes? What evidence do you have that these policies would work?

While housing in South West Pennsylvania is often touted as being affordable, that’s predominantly because of old and aging housing stock. Many folks, especially as the start families, want to upgrade to newer homes with better amenities, but the regulatory environment in Pittsburgh pushes for suburban sprawl. This is what has caused the rapid growth in my district. South West Pennsylvania is a wonderful place to live, and I’m proud to welcome my new neighbors to my community. Housing is becoming more expensive because more people are learning how great it is to live here. To keep housing affordable for people and families in a variety of circumstances, we need to make housing easier to build, and make more varied types of housing accessible.

I would support policies that make building housing, and upgrading existing units, easier. This would mean revising the building code, and states preempting zoning codes to ensure zoning does not prevent new units. This can include making multi family units legal in more areas, making accessory dwelling units easier to build and get approved. I would also support the state compiling a set of preapproved building plans to streamline construction of new houses.

In HD-12, our development pattern has also made car ownership practically mandatory. Lowering costs from housing also means lowering costs of transportation. Eliminating parking minimums, increasing funding to transit, and incentivizing transit oriented development will help create housing that lowers costs.

3. Cranberry, along with the other northern exurbs of Pittsburgh, is experiencing rapid growth. In some suburban areas, community groups have expressed worries about the effects of development on local infrastructure and the environment. As the representative of a suburban district, what policies would you propose to help strike a balance between the need for new housing and the concerns of longtime residents in this and other growing areas across the Commonwealth?

Cranberry has been experiencing rapid growth because other communities in the Pittsburgh metro area have made it difficult to build housing. While I love introducing folks to everything Southern Butler county has to offer, it has put a strain on our local infrastructure and environment. I would support policies that make it easier to build new housing in Allegheny county, so folks aren’t pushed to outer suburbs to find housing with the space and amenities they need. The policies mentioned in Questions 2 and 4 lay out different policies that will make housing more accessible in our metro area.

4. Reps. David Solomon, John Inglis, and Greg Scott have recently proposed several bipartisan bills intended to combat Pennsylvania’s housing shortage. These bills will, among other things, prohibit municipal parking minimums, streamline the processing of housing-related permits, and define pre-approved housing plans. The specific language of each bill can be found in the links below:

Do you support this legislation? Why or why not?

I support these bills as a good start to make new housing easier and quicker to build. All of these bills give property owners the freedom to build what they want on their land, and help make it cheaper to build new units.

5. The PA General Assembly recently passed House Bills 2186 (legalizing accessory dwelling units) and 2109 (the Golden Girls Law, eliminating outdated occupancy limits). Do you support their passage by the State Senate? Why or why not?

These bills make it easier for folks to make their own decisions on where to live. Accessory dwelling units especially will help make multigenerational families live comfortably, and help promote strong families.

6. 49 out of 50 states mandate regular property value assessments for tax purposes. Pennsylvania is the only one that does not. Would you support legislation mandating regular reassessments? Why or why not?

Butler county has not done a property reassessment since 1969. Regular property value assessments would allow for our public services to be more equitably funded. We have seen rapid change since 1969, and ensuring regular new assessments would go a long way to supporting fair growth.

7. In Pennsylvania, municipalities (cities, boroughs, townships) can tax land at a separate rate than buildings. Economists widely believe that taxing land at a higher rate than buildings results in less blight, better land use, and more affordable housing. Would you support legislation allowing school districts and counties in Pennsylvania to also tax land at a separate rate than buildings? Why or why not?

A land value tax would be a massive boon to my district. We are seeing intense suburban sprawl throughout HD12, and shifting taxes from buildings to land value will prompt sustainable development. This would be one of the most effective interventions to ensure Butler county’s expenses are being spread equitably. As we see a rapid increase in development, and a national housing shortage, we should be incentivizing housing and other productive buildings over empty lots or lawns.

8. What books, articles, or research have you read that have informed your views on housing?

I have a background in banking where I did loan applications for home equity loans and lines of credit for customers and I also worked in residential construction mortgage for about five years, where I oversaw construction of single family homes where I got a front row seat in how much it costs to build a home. Which means I have read appraisals to see how much the home value is worth and how that can impact the value of homes nearby. I do the same thing now for commercial lending.

9. Do you have any other thoughts on housing that you would like to share with the voters of HD-12?

Ben Lyons
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