On November 18th, Governor Baker filed a Supplemental budget H.5394 to provide housing and other necessary services for refugees and migrants. The arrival of refugees and migrants from countries like Afghanistan, Haiti, Venezuela, and Ukraine has led to increased demand for emergency shelters in Massachusetts. The Governor proposes establishing a reserve of $130 million through the supplemental budget for increased shelter capacity, healthcare costs, and services across all state agencies responding to the increased need.
Housing News
The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) released its Compliance Model for estimating the key zoning metrics required under Section 3A of the Zoning Act, which requires communities served by the MBTA to have at least one reasonably sized zoning district where multifamily housing is allowed by-right.
On November 10, Governor Baker signed the Economic Development Bill into law. The Legislature sent the Governor a final bill on November 2, after months of delay following the end of the legislative session this summer. The Governor vetoed only $1.1 million from the $3.76 billion bill and several outside sections.
The Governor left in place all the affordable housing related spending and policy sections in the bill. This includes:
We are pleased to announce that CHAPA is currently seeking additional communities on a rolling basis for our MEI Lite Program, a lighter touch program of our Municipal Engagement Initiative, that will help to set communities up for coalition building efforts on their own.
On November 2, a final Economic Development Bill (H.5374) emerged from its conference committee in the state Legislature. Uncertainty caused by an obscure tax rebate law triggered by stronger-than-expected tax collections delayed the bill's progress since the end of formal legislative sessions on July 31, 2022.
The conference committee presented a slimmed down Economic Development Bill compared to the versions passed earlier this year by the House and Senate. The final bill dropped certain tax relief proposals and any capital spending approvals.
On October 21, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) posted revisions to the MBTA Zoning Guidelines regarding inclusionary zoning requirements.
On October 20, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) announced that the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP) will begin covering last month's rent starting on November 1, 2022.
On October 17, CHAPA, along with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, delivered a sign-on letter to legislators and the Baker Administration advocating for ending the notice to quit requirement in the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) emergency rental assistance program. 167 organizations joined the letter asking to stop the harmful requirement.
Please Sign-On Your Organization to Improve Access to RAFT
On August 1, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) made changes to Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program reinstating a requirement of Notice to Quit (NTQ) for households applying for assistance with rent arrears.
Close to 250 advocates, neighbors, municipal employees, organizational representatives, and legislators working on affordable housing in their communities joined us on Thursday, September 22nd for our Annual Regional Meeting.