Legislators in Michigan succeeded in including several major housing provisions in the state’s fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget following efforts by local advocates. The budget provides an estimated $100 million to maintain the state’s existing housing programs and initiatives, as well as $50 million for the Michigan Housing Community Development Fund (MHCDF), which aims to rejuvenate downtown communities across the state, lower hurdles to affordable home construction, and support plans to increase the affordable housing stock (see Memo, 2/13/2023). The budget also allocates $2.3 million for the Housing Readiness Incentive Grant Program, which covers fees related to upholding land use regulations, changing zoning rules, and improving community plans, as well as $8.5 million to expand the number of family shelters and support homeless families and $20 million for the Permanent Supportive Housing Program, which helps homeless individuals and families with at least one person experiencing disability to secure housing. Likewise, the budget provides $1.5 million for a right-to-counsel (RTC) initiative in Detroit aiming to support residents facing eviction.
More than 60 bills related to housing were introduced in Michigan's legislature this session, with many involving tenant protections. The Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness (MCAH), an NLIHC partner, advocated strongly for the investments in the MHCDF, housing programs, and permanent supportive housing, and Lisa Chapman, MCAH’s director of public policy, testified on behalf of an RTC bill. Because numerous renter protection bills have still not been passed, MCAH plans to work with The Rent is Too Damn High Coalition on a Housing Homestretch Campaign, as well as other partners across the state to push for bills before the session ends in December.
A recent victory on September 26 was the passage of a suite of source-of-income anti-discrimination bills that would prohibit Michigan landlords with rental properties with five or more units from refusing to lease apartments to people using public assistance and federal housing vouchers to pay their rent. “We are extremely grateful to our legislative champions for sponsoring [these bills] and extend our deep appreciation to the superb work of our housing advocates and colleagues on these bills,” said Lisa Chapman. “This is the third time this has been introduced in the legislature and it could not have been realized without the deeply committed advocacy of the Coalition for Expanding Housing Access workgroup that MCAH facilitates. When enacted, this legislation will expand housing opportunities for the many families and individuals that receive income supports. Vouchers and other forms of rental assistance and income support can be a lifeline for Michiganders who are struggling to get back on their feet.”
NLIHC wishes to thank all the advocates who worked tirelessly to achieve these victories. NLIHC also thanks Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM), an NLIHC partner, for compiling a summary of the budget that can be found here.