The Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), an NLIHC State Coalition Partner, applauds Massachusetts state legislators for passing the strongest housing bond bill in state history. Following months of debate, House and Senate leaders reached agreement on the legislation, which provides $1.4 billion in capital spending.Advocates have praised this timely victory for providing resources over the next five years to help deliver affordable housing opportunities for families, the elderly, and people with disabilities. In February, CHAPA released its legislative priorities for the state session, the housing bond bill topped the list. The bill included provisions to recapitalize the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) bond-funded affordable housing production and preservation programs, and invest in public housing modernization, options to help disabled residents remain in their homes, neighborhood stabilization, and development of housing units in commercial areas served by public transit. The bill also adds funding for commercial space within mixed-use developments through the Commercial Area Transit Node Housing Program (CATNHP), and creates a program to build and improve facilities for early childhood education and out-of-school time programs. CHAPA promoted the latter provision in partnership with the Children’s Investment Fund and United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley (see Memo, 2/22). Further, the bill extends the Massachusetts Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) at $20 million per year. Since 1999, the program has helped to create 8,213 homes and 10,549 jobs across the state.Despite their similarity, the House and Senate versions of the bill went to a conference committee over provisions to weaken the state’s Affordable Housing Law, Chapter 40B, by restricting construction on sites designated as tax increment financing zones and changing the definition of low and moderate income housing to include any housing that DHCD had agreed to consider as such prior to July 1, 2007. They also included language denying public housing preferences to immigrants with varying levels of citizenship status.CHAPA and its allies worked with conferees to remove harmful provisions and successfully urged them to complete their work in time for the state to make funding awards in November. Advocates appreciated the legislature’s attentiveness to their concerns and were pleased by the decision to pass the bill with strong funding for affordable housing production and economic development. Approved by the full House and Senate, the reconciled bill is expected to be signed by Governor Deval Patrick (D).“With the Commonwealth’s housing prices remaining amongst the highest in the nation, the Governor and the Legislature are working together to put Massachusetts in a strong position to create affordable housing necessary to our economy and quality of life,” said CHAPA Executive Director and NLIHC Board Member Brenda Clement. “CHAPA commends the legislative leadership for putting forward this landmark affordable housing legislation.” In July, state lawmakers also passed an FY2014 budget containing approximately $17 million in increases over FY2013 for housing and homeless prevention programs. The budget includes suggestions made by CHAPA and the Building Blocks Coalition to provide 5,400 families that received HomeBase rental assistance with options to prevent their homelessness once their temporary rental assistance ends. The budget also creates a new housing preservation and stabilization trust fund, which will provide DHCD with $10 million to use flexibly.For more information, contact Rachel Heller, CHAPA, [email protected]