The Senate Committee on Ways and Means has released its recommended FY 2006 state operating budget. It includes $90.4 million for the Department of Housing and Community Development, approximately $4 million more than the $86.1 million approved by the House last month.

Key differences include $2.5 million for the Soft Second Homeownership program, an additional $500,000 for rental subsidies for mental health consumers, and an additional $2 million for the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program.

The committee also made significant changes to the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program. These changes were supported by CHAPA and many other groups and include capping the amount of rent paid by tenants to not more than 40% of their income and increasing the administrative fee paid to agencies from $25 per voucher per month to $40 per voucher per month. The Senate's language, like that approved by the House, includes a requirement that vouchers be reissued when they are turned in. Unfortunately, Ways and Means matched the House funding level and did not propose increasing the line item amount to cover the suggested changes. CHAPA will work with Senate members and encourage them to increase the MRVP line item so that vouchers may be reissued. The committee did not include the additional $700,000 that was approved by the House for the Alternative Housing Voucher Program for people with disabilities; however, the proposed budget does include da! ta collection language called for by the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston.

In outside sections, Ways and Means proposed a "Smart Growth School Cost Reimbursement" program for Smart Growth Zoning Overlay Districts (Section 13) and a surplus land disposition process (Section 86).

Click here to see the Senate budget. A chart showing DHCD programs is available on CHAPA's web site.

Senators must file their amendments with the Senate Clerk by the end of the day on Thursday, May 19. Debate is expected to begin on Monday, May 23rd.

Municipalities Adopt Community Preservation Act

This Spring, 19 municipalities have adopted the Community Preservation Act, bringing the total number of communities to 93. The CPA allows municipalities to add a surcharge of 1%-3% to the local property tax bills. Funds raised must be spent on affordable housing, open space, and historic preservation. The amount raised by each community is matched by the state. To date, more than $115 million has been raised for the three uses. Communities that adopted the act this Spring include: Belchertown, Bourne, Bridgewater, Dennis, Edgartown, Fairhaven, Hamilton, Kingston, Marion, Mashpee, Oak Bluffs, Randolph, Sandwich, Tisbury, Truro, Wellfleet, Wenham, West Tisbury, and Yarmouth. More communities will be voting on CPA during the coming weeks. For a complete list, visit the Community Preservation Coalition's website.

Legislative Committee Holds Surplus Land Hearing

The Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets held a public hearing on May 11, where it accepted testimony on various bills relating to the expedited disposition of state surplus land. CHAPA joined other members of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance, testifying in support of the need to continue an expedited process while allowing more opportunities for local input and a balanced review of local and regional needs when determining how such property should be reused (affordable housing, open space, etc.). The current expedited disposition process will expire on June 30, and the Commonwealth will revert to the original process, that took an average of ten years per parcel, unless the legislature acts. The text of all bills, once posted, can be found on the General Court's web site.

Fannie Mae Agrees to Affordable Housing Pilot Program

Colleen Duffy, the new director of Fannie Mae's Massachusetts Partnership Office, has informed CHAPA that Fannie Mae has started an "Affordable Restriction Pilot" that is operational in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Long Island, New York. This is welcome news to affordable housing advocates who have long argued that certain affordability restrictions should survive foreclosure. Provided certain conditions are met, Fannie Mae is now purchasing deed restricted loans from seller/servicers in the pilot areas and allowing restrictions such as limitations on purchaser income, limitations on resale price, and owner-occupant restrictions to continue after foreclosure. For additional information contact the partnership office at 617-345-8042.

Representative Frank, Senator Reed Push Ahead on GSE Amendment

Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) are working to make sure that legislation which increases oversight of government sponsored enterprises (GSEs), such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, includes funding to help expand affordable housing opportunities.

Included in the amendment is a requirement that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac invest five percent of their pretax profits in building new affordable housing and that they support financing and funding housing in underserved markets. The amendment was adopted in the Senate last year, but the legislation as a whole did not pass.

If the amendment is adopted again this year, it could generate approximately $900 million each year for the production of housing and mortgage loans for low-income families, based on 2003 profit data. The GSE oversight bill is tentatively scheduled for a “mark-up” in the House next week, and in the Senate during the first week in June. Senator Reed is the Ranking Democratic Member of the Senate Housing Subcommittee, and Representative Frank is the Ranking Democratic Member of the House Committee on Financial Services.

Upcoming Events

May 25, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., MIT's 1st Annual Housing Affordability Conference, Little Kresge Auditorium, MIT Campus, 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. Click here for Registration.

June 3, 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., Stakeholders in the Future of Public Housing, Radisson Hotel, Plymouth. RSVP to jmissick@chapa.org.

June 14, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Local Initiatives Support Corporation's Afforable Housing in the Suburbs: Tools for Citizen-led Affordable Housing Development, Brandeis University, Waltham. RSVP to Marilyn Sanchez at LISC, 617-338-0411 x301.