CHAPA thanks the House Ways & Means Committee for its FY2024 budget proposal which included strong investments in affordable housing, homelessness prevention, and community development programs!
As the House prepares to debate its budget the week of August 24, CHAPA is working to further strengthen these programs.
Please contact your State Representative today to ask them to co-sponsor the following amendments to help everyone have a safe, healthy, accessible, and affordable home!
| # |
Program |
Sponsor |
Description |
| 843 |
Mass. Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) |
Rep. Howard |
- Increases funding to $250 million to provide for 6,000 new MRVP vouchers
|
| 1329 |
Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP) |
Rep. Consalvo |
- Allows project basing of AHVP vouchers to build new affordable, accessible homes to address the lack of homes for people with disabilities
|
| 392 |
Public Housing |
Rep. Sena |
- Increases funding to $112 million to provide more for the operating and maintenance of the 43,000 homes provided by public housing
|
| 842 |
Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) |
Rep. Howard |
- Increases RAFT funding to $250 million for short term rental assistance to eligible households
|
| 1483 |
RAFT Improvements |
Rep. Decker |
Makes following improvements to RAFT program:
- Prohibits DHCD from imposing a notice to quit requirement on households
- Requires direct-to-tenant payments in cases where the landlord is not cooperative with the RAFT application process
- Directs DHCD to provide forward rent payments for households without rental arrearages
- Directs DHCD to provide multiple months of assistance as long as the award would not exceed the 12-month benefit cap
|
| 966 |
Public Housing Reform |
Rep. Fiola |
- Increases funding by $2 million for improving participation in tenant organizations and provide other supportive services for public housing tenants
|
| 498 |
Improvements to HomeBASE |
Rep. Barber |
- Increases HomeBASE benefit to $30,000 for every 24 month period
- Removes income increases as terms for ineligibility
|
| 1137 |
Access to Counsel |
Rep. Rogers |
- Provides $7 million to start an Access to Counsel Program to provide legal assistance for low-income tenants and low-income owner occupant landlords in eviction proceedings
|
| 489 |
Affordable Accessible Housing Grants |
Rep. Consalvo |
- Allocates $2.5 million for the capital grants for production of affordable accessible housing that prioritizes AHVP voucher holders
|
| 974 |
Housing and Services for Unaccompanied Youth Experiencing Homelessness |
Rep. O’Day |
- Increases funding to $12 million for housing & services for youth experiencing homelessness
|
| 1243 |
DMH Rental Subsidy |
Rep. Garballey |
- Increases allocation to $20.5 million for housing people experiencing homelessness and disabling mental health conditions
|
| 1308 |
Brownfields Tax Credit |
Rep. Finn |
- Extends the tax credit, which helps clean up environmentally distressed sites, for 5 years which is set to expire in August 2023
|
| 502 |
Community Preservation Act (CPA) |
Rep. Schmid |
- Allows transfer of up to $30 million from any state budget surplus funds into the state CPA Trust Fund
|
| 1491 |
Saving Towards Affordable & Sustainable Homeownership Program (STASH) |
Rep. McGonagle |
- Allocates $3.5 million to STASH to support a matched savings program for first-generation, first-time homebuyers in Massachusetts
|
| 962, 1519 |
MassDREAMS |
Rep. Williams |
- Allocates $200 million for MassDREAMS to create homeownership opportunities for people in disadvantaged communities
|
