Housing News

On Tuesday, the Senate Ways and Means Committee released its budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2025.  Overall, the bill mostly mirrored the version that passed the House last month – MRVP funding was the same at $219 million ($40 million more than FY 24), RAFT received $197 million ($7.4 million more than FY 24), and HomeBASE came in at $57 million ($20 million more than FY 24).   

Last week, the House of Representatives passed its FY 2025 budget.  Representatives filed nearly 1500 amendments but less than $110 million in funding above the level proposed by the House Ways and Means Committee was approved.   Although CHAPA’s priority amendments were not included in the final House budget, housing accounts generally fared well considering difficult revenue projections.  The final House budget includes:

Earlier this month, the House Ways and Means Committee released its budget proposal for FY 2025, which begins on July 1, 2024.  In the days immediately following that release, representatives submitted 1,495 amendments to that budget.  On Wednesday, the House begins its multi-day budget consideration process.  

On April 16, the House of Representatives sent the Governor's Affordable Homes Act (H. 4138) to its third committee since it was filed last October. After moving from the Housing Committee to the Bonding Committee earlier this year, it is now before the House Committee on Ways and Means. While that committee is expected to make significant changes to the legislation (Speaker Mariano has said that he is "going to go big" on housing), timing is to be determined.

James Jennings, Ashley E. Harding, Kadineyse Paz, and Robert Terrell released their new fair housing report, Advancing Fair Housing in Greater Boston, Massachusetts: Voices from the Field. The report highlights the need to ensure that amplifying calls for increasing the affordable housing supply is consistently conjoined with ‘affirmatively furthering fair housing,’ not just to do the “right thing,” but to be in compliance with required federal laws and regulations.

Following Milton’s rejection of a new multifamily zoning plan, CHAPA applauds Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s leadership in pursuing legal action against the town of Milton. The AG’s lawsuit sends a clear message that municipalities unwilling to do their part in creating more diverse types of housing where families can thrive and that choose to fail to comply with the MBTA Communities Law will face consequences for their inaction.

At CHAPA, we’re proud of the policy and systems changes made in 2023 to allow for more of the diverse types of homes we need, including MBTA Multifamily Zoning, efforts made to eradicate the racial homeownership gap, and more. With a solid foundation to build upon in 2024, CHAPA will continue to help put Massachusetts on a path toward 200,000 homes by 2030. Check out CHAPA's 2023 Annual Report for last year's accomplishments, including our policy and program work!

On Wednesday, February 14th, 2024, residents of Milton voted no on a bright and inclusive future for their community. At a time when people across income levels are feeling the pain of escalating home prices and rents, CHAPA is disappointed that Milton voters chose the status quo that keeps their gates closed and limits opportunities for people to have homes they can afford in the neighborhoods they love. Milton’s vote impacts people, our region, and our economy. 

Four leading statewide affordable housing organizations today called on Milton residents to vote YES on February 13 to adopt multi-family zoning consistent with the MBTA Communities Law.

Right now, members of Congress are working to pass fiscal year 2024 spending bills for a range of federal agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  Unfortunately, there are indications that the proposals being considered would underfund HUD and threaten housing and homelessness programs.