With the beginning of the new 2019-2020 state legislative session in January, CHAPA announced its legislative agenda. CHAPA's priorities include bills that will help increase access to affordable housing, protect fair housing, strengthen tenant protections to reduce displacement, and build stronger communities throughout the Commonwealth.
For a brief description of CHAPA's legislative priorities, click here.
Housing News
Ask Your State Legislators to Co-sponsor CHAPA’s Legislative Priorities!
Yesterday Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s (MHP) Center for Housing Data officially launched DataTown, a new interactive website of community-level information for all 351 Massachusetts cities and towns.
Check out CHAPA's January 2019 Housing Briefs for state and federal housing updates as well as recent research and reports.
The government shutdown has now lasted nearly three weeks and is approaching what will be the longest shutdown of the federal government in U.S. history.
The Kuehn Charitable Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of its application process for the 2019-2021 Kuehn Fellowship. The Fellowship offers a two-year placement with paid stipend ($68,000) at one of six active Greater Boston area housing nonprofits. There is additional support for launching a career in affordable housing development from the Fellow cohort and alumni, an individual mentor and monthly Fellow gatherings. The goals of the program are to both interest young people in the field and add capacity to the Massachusetts housing community.
On December 28, Governor Baker signed a bill taxing and regulating short-term rentals through websites like Airbnb in Massachusetts. The bill originally passed the State Legislature in July but was sent back by the Governor with concerns over exempting certain owners who rent their homes only a few days per year.
As federal legislative leaders zeroed in before the end of the year on a continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown, President Trump announced he would not sign a spending bill without $5 billion for his southern border wall.
On December 17th The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development released its annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress. The report is released in two parts.