by iwd Tina | May 31, 2024 | Housing News
As if next week wasn’t going to be exciting enough with the CHAPA Annual Celebration on Wednesday, it got taken up a notch when House leadership announced that the Housing Bond Bill will be on the floor the same day.
As you may remember, Governor Healey announced her Affordable Homes Act back in October. That bill includes $4.1 billion in bond authorization to support housing creation as well as more than 20 policy housing provisions. The housing community has been anticipating what will happen next week for months now, and the Legislature’s timing gives us a unique opportunity.
With so many housing friends planning to be in Boston on Wednesday for the Annual Celebration already, CHAPA is inviting everyone to come to the city a little early that day and to help the House pass the best bond bill possible.
Please join us at 12:30pm on Wednesday, June 5 outside the State House on Beacon Street when we will all go into the building for an informal and impromptu advocacy push. The House is expected to begin debate on the bill starting at 1pm. We will provide a list of priority amendments and talking points to support your advocacy on the bill.
We anticipate that the House Ways and Means Committee will release its Housing Bond Bill proposal on Monday, June 3. Representatives will have a short window of time to file amendments. Once the bill comes out, it will be a fast sprint to analyze it, file amendments, and advocate. It is going to be a fun week!
In advance of seeing the actual bill text, CHAPA has four guiding principles for the legislation:
- Support the highest bond authorization levels possible.
- Keep bond authorization line items free from earmarks.
- Include policy proposals to address housing needs.
- Protect existing housing laws and oppose attempts to weaken 40B or the MBTA Communities Act.
Things are moving fast! More Action Alerts and Housing News posts will be coming over the next several days!
by iwd Tina | May 30, 2024 | Housing News
CHAPA is now seeking applicants for the MBTA Communities Manager and Senior Policy Associate roles. Review the job descriptions and how to apply on CHAPA’s Jobs Board.
by iwd Tina | May 28, 2024 | Housing News
Late last Thursday evening (or technically very early Friday morning), the Senate passed its final FY 2025 budget. When the Legislature began consideration of the budget earlier this spring, many had grave concerns about the impact that lower than expected revenue figures would have on housing line items. Fortunately, both the House and the Senate protected these programs from funding cuts, and in most cases increased their bottom lines.
Also encouraging from both the House and the Senate were the rejections of amendments that would have delayed or weakened the MBTA Communities Act. CHAPA applauds the Legislature for its continued support of this important law.
Now that the dust has settled on the public debates in the House and Senate, action moves to a conference committee made up of three members from each branch who will work to iron out differences between the two versions. The Conference Committee will be aiming to complete its work before the end of June so the Legislature can get a final budget on the Governor’s desk before the end of the current fiscal year on June 30.
Below is a chart tracking funding proposals and requests throughout this process. The underlined and bolded figures in the final two columns indicate the higher funding proposal between the House and Senate where there is a difference between the two:
| Line-Item |
Program |
FY24 Budget |
CHAPA FY2025 Requests |
Governor’s FY25 Budget Proposal |
House Final |
Senate Final |
| 7004-9024 |
Mass. Rental Voucher Program |
$179,597,023 |
$300,000,000 |
$219,038,574 |
$219,038,574 |
$219,038,574 |
| 7004-9030 |
Alternative Housing Voucher Program |
$16,863,078 |
$30,000,000 |
$16,355,696 |
$16,355,696 |
$16,355,696 |
| 7004-9316 |
Residential Assistance for Families in Transition |
$190,000,000 |
$300,000,000 |
$197,406,952 |
$197,406,952 |
$197,406,952 |
| 7004-9005 |
Public Housing Operating |
$107,000,000 |
$189,000,000 |
$112,000,000 |
$112,000,000 |
$115,000,000 |
| 7004-3036 |
Housing Consumer Education Centers |
$10,474,000 |
$12,000,000 |
$8,774,000 |
$8,774,000 |
$8,974,000 |
| 7004-9007 |
Public Housing Reform |
$1,315,000 |
$7,700,000 |
$1,250,000 |
$1,250,000 |
$1,250,000 |
| 7004-0104 |
Home & Healthy for Good |
$8,890,000 |
$8,890,000 |
$8,390,000 |
$8,890,000 |
$8,890,000 |
| 7004-0108 |
HomeBASE |
$37,070,445 |
$80,000,000 |
$57,300,000 |
$57,322,001 |
$57,322,001 |
| 7006-0011 |
Foreclosure & Housing Counseling |
$3,050,000 |
$3,050,000 |
$1,500,000 |
$2,800,000 |
$1,500,000 |
| 7004-3045 |
Tenancy Preservation Program |
$2,042,755 |
$2,000,000 |
$2,042,755 |
$2,042,755 |
$2,042,755 |
| 4120-4001 |
MassAccess Registry |
$150,000 |
$300,000 |
$150,000 |
$150,000 |
$150,000 |
| 4000-0007 |
Unaccompanied Homeless Youth |
$11,000,000 |
$15,000,000 |
$10,545,850 |
$10,545,850 |
$10,545,850 |
| 7004-0106 |
New Lease for Homeless Families |
$250,000 |
$250,000 |
$250,000 |
$250,000 |
$250,000 |
| 0321-1800 |
Access to Counsel Program |
– |
$3,500,000 |
$3,500,000 |
$2,500,000 |
– |
| NEW |
Fair Housing Trust Fund |
– |
$2,500,000 |
– |
– |
– |
by iwd Tina | May 20, 2024 | Housing News
On Tuesday, the Senate is scheduled to begin its consideration of the FY 2025 state operating budget. Earlier this month, senators filed 1,100 amendments to the Senate Ways and Means proposal, including CHAPA’s priority amendments below. Please contact your senator and ask them to support the inclusion of these provisions in the final Senate budget that is expected to pass later this week:
#155 – Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (Sen. Feeney)
Directs $500,000 to the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance to provide technical assistance and engage in resources development and systems work to advance housing solutions to end homelessness; increases the total funding for the Home and Healthy for Good program by the same amount.
#208 – Saving Toward Affordable and Sustainable Homeownership (STASH) Program (Sen. Crighton)
Directs $750,000 for the STASH Program to support first-generation homebuyers.
#218 – Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) (Sen. Lovely)
Codifies MRVP in statute and makes improvements to the program, including deepening affordability for renters, improving renter safety, improving data collection, and increasing administrative fees to cover costs associated with running the program for regional housing agencies and housing authorities.
#240 – Improvements to the RAFT (Residential Assistance for Families in Transition) Homelessness Prevention Program (Sen. Gomez)
Adjusts RAFT guidelines by making additional funds available to administrating agencies to resolve housing crises, and eliminates the need for a utility shut-off notice, a notice to quit, or a summary process summons and complaint to access RAFT.
#272 – Housing Authorities (Sen. Edwards)
Increases public housing operating funding by $2 million to $117 million.
#292 – Homebuyer Consumer Counseling (Sen. Eldridge)
Makes a modest investment in a program that has proven to be a crucial tool for keeping people in their homes by providing high-quality homeowner education and foreclosure counseling services.
#323 – Improvements to HomeBASE (Sen. Jehlen)
Adjusts guidelines for HomeBASE to make short-term housing transition benefits available for 12-month renewable allotments to re-housed families, allows for renewals for eligible families beyond 3 years, if necessary, eases certain current spending limitations to keep families housed, and continues the prior appropriation.
#906 – Housing Assistance for People in Reentry (Sen. Gomez)
Increases funding for the line item to $9 million to provide rental assistance for returning citizens.
by iwd Tina | May 13, 2024 | Housing News
Our CHAPA Fair Housing Symposium: Advancing Responsible Fair Housingtook place on April 25th. Information on this year’s symposium, including bios, links, slides, resources, and more, can be found on our Event Page. The event was recorded and can be found on our YouTube channel, where you can view it in full or by presentation/section. A summary of the event and resources shared can be foundhere.
We are so appreciative to our amazing presenters, panelists and moderators.
- Dr. Michael Akinwumi, Chief Responsible AI Officer,NFHA
- Jamie Williamson, District Director,U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Dr. James Jennings, Lead Researcher, Professor Emeritus, Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University
- Kadineyse Paz, Assistant Researcher, Neighborhood Fellow, Tufts University
- Cashauna Hill, Executive Director,The Redress Movement
We were so pleased to award this year’sFair Housing Champions:
If you would like to nominate a 2025 recipient, please complete this form, we would love to hear from you.
There is much work to do ahead of us. Please consider supporting our CHAPA legislative prioritiesand furthermore joining our Fair Housing Committee. This Committee meets periodically, bringing together diverse stakeholders from across the state to intentionally advance fair housing and serve as a place to share information, work on legislation, coordinate efforts, and educate ourselves throughout the year.
During the month of April, we shared many resources including books, tools, articles, videos, and more on our social media. If you missed any of them, a summarized list can be found here. We hope that you check them out and share them broadly.
If you are interested in additional learning opportunities, we invite you to participate in the Confronting the History of Housing Discriminationlearning session we host in partnership with JALSA, as well as our Affordable Housing 101sessions.
In order to responsibly advance fair housing in our work we must do so proactively and intentionally. Let us continue to work together to find the solutions to advance and ensure fair housing for all.
Special thank you to our Sponsor for the Event:
