On Monday night, May 10, after five hours of debate, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed House No. 4240, the "40B reform bill." Although CHAPA supported the original compromise bill prepared under the guidance of House Chairman Kevin Honan, during the debate, several amendments were adopted that went beyond the compromise bill. These amendments, coupled with the changes proposed in the bill, would put at least 17 communities over the 10% threshold without requiring any of them to create one new affordable home.

The House Clerk has not finished reviewing the amendments; however, based on CHAPA's preliminary review of material available to us, the following amendments are cause for significant concern:

CHAPA will be posting the 40B legislation on our web site as soon as it is available.

CHAPA thanks Representative Honan and the members of the HUD Committee for their work on the original compromise legislation. We also thank Representative Timothy Toomey and Representative Alice Wolf for the positive amendments they offered. We also offer additional thanks to Representatives Elizabeth Malia, Marie St. Fleur, and Jeffrey Sanchez for their strong advocacy to protect the Comprehensive Permit Statute. CHAPA will be advocating with the Senate over the coming weeks to improve the bill.

House Acts on State Low Income Housing Tax Credit and Other Housing Bills

After the 40B debate, the House quickly passed three housing bills. One would extend the state low income housing tax credit for five years with $100 million in credits, which is one of CHAPA's top legislative priorities. The second is a technical amendment to the 2002 Housing Bond bill, allowing the Housing Stabilization Fund to be used for the Soft Second Program, just as it was in the 1998 bond bill. The final bill would enable cities and towns to adopt their own affordable housing trust funds without having to file home rule petitions. Each of these bills will be referred to the Senate for further consideration.

Senate Ways & Means Budget Strong on Housing, but Fails to Extend Tax Credit

Following a well attended press conference on May 11, when Senate President Travaglini, Senator Murray (Chair of the Ways and Means Committee) and Senator Chandler (Co-Chair of the Housing Committee), and members of the business, academic, and housing field unveiled a Smart Growth Zoning Overlay Plan, today the Senate Committee on Ways and Means Committee released its FY 2005 budget.

The committee's budget provides $76 million for DHCD line items, including $2 million in additional funding for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Due to earmarks contained in the Housing Services account, it appears that the Housing Consumer Education Centers will be underfunded. Otherwise, the DHCD budget is very similar to what was passed by the House, including increased funding for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program and Public Housing Operating Subsidies.

The Emergency Assistance Family Shelter account (4403-2120) and the Homelessness Program account (4406-3000) would each receive $2 million increases under the budget proposed by Ways and Means. The committee's budget also includes the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program, which is funded at $4 million from the Department of Transitional Assistance's Emergency Assistance line item. The RAFT program would provide families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and whose incomes do not exceed 130% of federal poverty level with one-time grants of $3,000. The House funded this new program at $2 million.

Outside sections of the committee's budget include many housing items of interest. The Municipal Incentives for Smart Growth Zoning is, as expected, in the budget. These sections establish a Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund that could receive funds from the sale of state surplus lands and other sources, and it uses density bonus payments ($2,000 for each multi-family home and $4,000 for each single-family home) as an incentive to encourage communities to zone for more housing.

These zones would have to allow 20 units per acre for multi-family, 12 units for 2-4 properties, and 8 units for single-family. At least 20% of the homes would have to be affordable to those with income of less than 80% of the area median, and communities would be held harmless for net increases in school costs. DHCD with the Department of Revenue and the Department of Education would develop a formula to implement the hold harmless provisions. The full text of these sections is available on CHAPA's web site.

Another outside section would charge DHCD with implementing a statewide application system for all state public chousing and, to the extent possible, other affordable housing resources. The system must be in place by December 31, 2005, and it would be developed in coordination with the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. This language was included in the House budget.

The Ways and Means budget does not include an extension of the $100 million state low income housing tax credit. In its place, as advocated for by the Romney Administration, there is a section that says the Legislature will provide $12 million to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund on January 1, 2006. There is no mention of a commitment beyond that date. CHAPA will work with the lead Senate sponsors of the tax credit bill, Jarrett Barrios and Harriette Chandler, regarding the possibility of filing an amendment to extend the tax credit, like the bill that the House passed on Monday.

Budget amendments must be filed by Friday, May 14, and debate is expected to begin on Wednesday, May 19, 2004. For a list of housing line items and comparisons to previous years, see www.chapa.org.