Governor Healey Files Immediate Needs Bond Bill with Authorizations for Affordable Housing

On January 19, Governor Healey filed a $987 million Immediate Needs Bond Bill that seeks critical authorization for key housing and economic development programs. Bill H.51 An Act financing the immediate economic revitalization, community development, and housing needs of the Commonwealth ensures continued funding for critical housing, infrastructure and community development programs.

Need for an Immediate Needs Bond Bill

Capital funds in many housing programs authorized through the last Housing Bond bill, such as Public Housing Capital, Facilities Consolidation Fund, and Housing Stabilization Fund have been exhausted or will soon expire. The pipeline for public housing investments is oversubscribed which means that long planned public housing projects cannot move forward until funds are made available thereby delaying improvements to public housing.

What is Included in the Immediate Needs Bond Bill

This bill ensures the continuity of these and other ongoing housing production and preservation programs in the near term. Here are some of the major investments the bill proposes:

• $400 million to cover MassWorks needs through 2028
• $48 million for Public Housing Capital
• $34 million for the Revitalizing Underutilized Properties Program to be administered by MassDevelopment for projects to rehabilitate or redevelop blighted, abandoned, vacant or underutilized properties in Massachusetts 
• $5 million for the Rural and Small Town Development Fund
• $11.6 million for the Community Based Housing Program, to provide state financial assistance for the development of community-based or supportive housing for individuals with mental illness and or intellectual disabilities
• $16 million for the Housing Stabilization and Investment Trust Fund
• $8.5 million for the Public Housing Demonstration Program to rehabilitate public housing through public-private partnerships
• $10 million for the Housing Innovations Trust Fund 
• $2 million to support low- and moderate-income housing near transit nodes
• $200 million as a state match to compete for federal CHIPS Act funding
• $30 million to compete for community broadband dollars funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 

The bill will go before the House Ways and Means Committee.