Despite this challenging year, CHAPA was able to successfully pivot our work to advance our legislative and budget priorities, in addition to addressing the housing impacts of the pandemic. Check out our 2020 Annual Report for all of last year's accomplishments, including our policy and program work.
Housing News
On February 12, 2021, Speaker Mariano and Senate President Spilka announced their leadership and committee assignments for the two-year legislative session. These assignments will allow the work to begin reviewing all the bills that have been filed in the House and Senate.
On January 29, 2021, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) issued preliminary guidance for MBTA communities regarding compliance with new law requiring by-right multifamily zoning (M.G.L. Chapter 40A, Section 3A). The purpose of section 3A is to encourage MBTA communities to adopt zoning districts where multifamily zoning is permitted as of right, and that meet other requirements set forth in the statute.
On January 27, 2021, Governor Baker released his $45.6 billion state budget for FY2022 (H.1), which begins on July 1, 2021. According to Governor Baker, the budget would support the ongoing public health response to COVID-19 while reducing total state spending.
On January 13th, the Baker-Polito Administration made updates to include residents and staff of public & private low income and affordable senior housing as a priority group in the Phase 2 (tier 1) COVID-19 vaccine distribution. This would ensure that seniors with low-income, who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, will be vaccinated early on in the vaccine distribution process.
Governor Signs Economic Development Bill with Critical Zoning Reforms & Affordable Housing Resources
On January 14, 2021, Governor Baker signed economic development legislation (H.5250) into law, which contained many of CHAPA's housing priorities, including:
The Baker-Polito launched an interactive Eviction Diversion Initiative Dashboard to provide monthly summary statistics about the Massachusetts COVID-19 Eviction Diversion Initiative. The dashboard can be used to view statistics and information for each of the Eviction Diversion Initiative programs.
In response to the unprecedented volume of applications for emergency rental assistance, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has announced changes to improve the RAFT and Emergency Mortgage and Rental Assistance (ERMA) programs.
In the early morning of January 6, the Legislature sent its final Economic Development bill (H.5250) to the Governor.
In the early hours of January 6, the Legislature sent its final Economic Development bill (H.5250) to the Governor. The bill includes many transformative housing policies that CHAPA and our membership have advocated for, including Housing Choice, zoning for multi-family housing in MBTA communities, and other provisions that will allow more Massachusetts residents to find and stay in affordable homes in communities of their choose.