State Updates
Patrick Administration Releases FY’13 Capital Budget
The Executive Office for Administration and Finance has announced an increase in FY’13 capital resources for affordable housing bringing the total to $179.5 million in general obligation bond funding. This investment will build off the FY’12 midyear increase in capital funding for housing, leverage significant private and tax credit funds to modernize public housing, and create and preserve other forms of affordable housing. Click here for a history of spending on capital resources.
CHAPA Begins Formulating 2013 Public Policy Priorities
CHAPA is currently developing its advocacy priorities for the coming year. After five years of significant Patrick Administration capital investments, it is time for a new housing and community development bond bill to enable future affordable housing capital resources for several more years. While this will be our top priority, we hope to develop other helpful proposals to encourage affordable housing and to continue to seek progress on longstanding challenges like zoning reform. We have held 9 regional meetings across the state to solicit feedback, with two additional meetings scheduled for November 7: Brockton from 1-2:30 pm and Fall River from 4-5:30 pm, meeting locations to be announced - see CHAPA's website for more details. If you have not been able to participate in a regional meeting but you have a suggestion, please contact Carol Marine to weigh in.
DHCD Issues Request for Proposals for MRVP Supportive Housing Initiative
The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has announced the availability of 150 project-based Massachusetts Rental Vouchers (MRVP) to serve homeless families with supportive housing. These vouchers will be made available to owners of existing rental properties or rental properties that will come online within three (3) months of receiving an MRVP award. An owner receiving these project-based MRVP vouchers must be able to provide case management and stabilization services or partner with an organization that has experience with successfully stabilizing homeless and/or very low income households. Awardees will receive rental assistance plus $2,500 per family per year for services. Applications are due Friday, October 19th.
Interagency Working Group on Supportive Housing Announces Listening Session
Interested stakeholders are invited to a public information and listening session regarding the implementation of An Act Relative to Community Housing and Services on Wednesday, October 17th from 4 -5pm in Gardner Auditorium at the State House. At this session, Undersecretary Aaron Gornstein and Assistant Secretary Marilyn Anderson Chase will provide background on the supportive housing effort to date and an overview of key components that will be included in the interagency MOU mandated by the legislation. After that presentation, attendees will have an opportunity to offer feedback and guidance on this initiative.
Director of Public Policy Posting and Thank you from Sean Caron
After five years and 73 housing briefs, I will be departing CHAPA on October 16th for an exciting new opportunity at the Community Builders. Despite the challenges posed by the times, my tenure at CHAPA has been a tremendous pleasure that I look back on with a great sense of pride and fulfillment. I wanted to express my sincere thanks to CHAPA’s members and partners throughout government for your tremendous support and guidance.
CHAPA is currently seeking a new Director of Public Policy, with the job description posted here. CHAPA’s exceptional board and staff represent just a few of the many reasons why this is a great position for a motivated public policy professional interested in affordable housing. Applications are due by October 26, 2012.
Federal Updates
Six-Month Continuing Resolution for FY2013 Enacted
On September 28, the President signed a six-month continuing resolution (CR) – H.J. Res. 117 – to fund government operations for the first half of FY2013 (October through March). For most programs, including all HUD programs, the CR provides funds to continue operations at their FY2012 funding level. While the CR provides a 0.6% increase over this base rate, agencies will have to request OMB permission to use that increment.
Estimated Sequestration Impacts on HUD Programs Released
On September 14, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a report estimating the funding cuts required under sequestration. The report assumes an 8.2% cut in non-exempt non-defense discretionary programs and details the FY2013 funding cuts required by program. OMB estimates that the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program would be cut by $1.5 billion, Project-Based rental assistance by $772 million, public housing operating and capital funding by $479 million, HOME by $82 million and Housing Counseling by $4 million. If implemented, HUD estimates that over 250,000 households would lose rental assistance, over 100,000 would lose assistance under homeless programs and 80,000 fewer owners would by assisted under housing counseling programs.
HUD Issues FY2013 Fair Market Rents (FMRs)
On August 3, HUD published a Federal Register notice finalizing FMRs for FY2013 (starting October 1, 2012). There were no changes from the proposed FMRs for Massachusetts published in August.
New HUD Notice Allows Rent Burdens above 40% for Housing Choice Vouchers in “Assisted Living”
On September 28, HUD issued Notice PIH-40(HA), which allows PHAs to request a HUD waiver to allow participants in the Housing Choice Voucher program to pay more than 40% of their monthly income toward housing costs in “assisted living” facilities if additional costs for services and amenities are reasonable. Regardless of its name, a facility qualifies as assisted living under the notice as long as it is licensed and regulated, provides supportive serves to assist with activities of daily living and provides individual living units. HUD will consider waiver requests on a case by case basis.
Redefinition of Rural Areas Delayed
The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) reports that the Department of Agriculture will continue using the current definition of Rural Areas (based on 2000 Census data) until March 27, 2013. Efforts continue to grandfather currently eligible communities once the 2010 Census data is applied in order to continue their eligibility for Rural Housing Service programs.
Recent Research
New Study Finds Half of Boston Area’s Subsidized Housing is Near Transit
A new study by Reconnecting America (Are We There Yet) examines how well 366 metro areas nationwide provide and support neighborhoods that are “complete” (providing quality education, access to good jobs, affordable housing, healthy food and medical care, parks and cultural amenities). The study also looks at the potential of each metro area to improve, based on the presence of “opportunity neighborhoods” - areas with good “bones” (within ½ mile of fixed-guideway transit, walkable, moderate dense housing or jobs, and water, sewer, street grids and street lighting systems), even if they lack other important goods.
The study grades each metro area, relative to similarly sized metro areas, on a host of characteristics, making it easier to identify each areas relative strengths and weaknesses. The Boston area ranked high on many transit-related measures, including the percentage of Section 8 and Section 202 developments near transit (46.2%) and the percentage in opportunity areas (63.9%). It ranked relatively low on access to healthy food, parks and amenities and levels of physical activity.
Study Finds Leaving High Poverty Areas Provides Significant Non-Economic Benefits
A study published last month in Science – “Neighborhood Effects on the Long-Term Well-Being of Low-Income Adults” – looked at the effect of leaving high poverty neighborhoods on participants in HUD’s Moving to Opportunity program. As detailed in an article in the Boston Globe on September 21, participants reported an increase in their well-being equivalent to a $13,000 increase in annual income for every 13 percentage point decrease in the neighborhood poverty rate, even though their actual household incomes did not improve. They also experienced improvements in mental health.
Events
CHAPA Annual Dinner
October 24, 2012, 5:30 p.m. - CHAPA’s 45thAnnual Dinner will be held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Join us in honoring Thomas Callahan of the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance and Peter Gagliardi of HAPHousing with our Community Service Awards. Stuart Rothenberg of The Rothenberg Political Report also joins us as our keynote speaker to give us his predictions for the upcoming elections. For more information, please call 617-742-0820 or e-mail Odessa Walton at odessaw@chapa.org.
Brockton and Fall River Regional Meetings
November 7, 2012 – CHAPA's final two regional meetings will be held in Brockton from 1-2:30 pm and Fall River from 4-5:30 pm, locations to be announced - see our website for more details.
DHCD Statewide Housing and Community Development Conference
November 13, 2012 – DHCD is hosting a statewide housing and community development conference at the DCU Center in Worcester. Featured speakers include Governor Deval Patrick and Lt. Governor Timothy Murray. The conference will offer workshops on topics including homelessness reform, affordable housing production and preservation, gateway cities, public housing reforms, supportive housing, and others. For additional information and registration, visit DHCD’s conference page.
Save the Date – New England Housing Network Annual Conference
December 7, 2012 - The New England Housing Network will be hosting its annual conference this year at the Sheraton Framingham. Please visit CHAPA’s calendar page for additional information.
