Massachusetts House of Representatives Passes its Final FY2018 Budget - April 27, 2017

Post date
April 27, 2017

Late in the evening on Tuesday, April 25th, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed its final fiscal year 2018 (FY2018) budget recommendation after two days of debate on over 1,200 amendments.  The House budget totaled $40.8 billion, adding nearly $80 million through amendments during the debate process. The final budget provided strong support for many of our affordable housing and homelessness prevention priorities, providing nearly $18 million in funding for these programs over the previous year.

The final House budget included the following for CHAPA's priorities for affordable housing, homelessness prevention, and community development programs:

  • Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) (7004-9024): The House proposed $100 million for MRVP, which provides long-term rental subsidies to low-income households. This is an increase of $13.5 million over FY2017, which will support up to 300 new vouchers. The House also included several program changes including increasing eligibility for MRVP from 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI) to 80% of AMI. The budget also allows 75% of vouchers to be targeted to extremely low-income households who earn only 30% of AMI. These changes address cliff effects by allowing families to increase their incomes without the threat of completely losing their vouchers before they become economically self-sufficient.  During budget debate, an amendment sponsored by Rep. Mike Connolly added language authorizing the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to create a voucher management system, which will help improve the administration of MRVP.
     
  • Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP) (7004-9030): The House authorized $5 million for AHVP, which provides rental assistance to non-elderly, disabled households. This is an increase of $400,000 over FY2017. During budget debate, the House passed amendments sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Decker, Rep. Claire Cronin, and Rep. Linda Dean Campbell providing $150,000 more for AHVP over the original proposal in the House Ways & Means (HWM) budget. 
     
  • Public Housing Operating Subsidy (7004-9005): The House proposed $65.5 million for public housing operating subsidies, which supports local housing authorities and the nearly 46,000 public housing units across Massachusetts. This is a $1 million increase over FY2017.
     
  • Public Housing Reform (7004-9007): The House provided Public Housing Reform with $1,172,132, a $300,000 increase over the previous year. The program supports the implementation of a public housing reform law passed in 2014 to help improve the administration of and promote efficiencies at public housing authorities. The House also included new language in the program to authorize funding for a centralized wait-list for public housing. An amendment sponsored by Rep. Russell Holmes and Rep. Nick Collins passed during budget debate, providing the program with an additional $300,000 over the original proposal in the HWM budget. 
     
  • Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) (7004-9316): The House authorized $15 million for RAFT, a homelessness prevention program for families with children. This is $2 million more for the program over FY2017. The House cut language from RAFT that provided expanded eligibility allowing access to this resource to the elderly, households with persons with disabilities, or unaccompanied homeless youth.
     
  • HomeBASE (7004-0108): The House funded HomeBASE, which provides short-term assistance to families who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness, with $31.08 million. This is a decrease of over $800,000 for HomeBASE from the previous year. The House continued a $300,000 program in HomeBASE that allowing families in domestic violence substance abuse shelters, as well as adding sober living programs this year, to access HomeBASE if a family is otherwise eligible for the program.
     
  • Foreclosure Prevention Counseling (7006-0011): The House proposed $1.65 million for Foreclosure & Housing Counseling services. This is a $700,000 decrease from last year.  The House also adds language requiring that $500,000 be used to support Housing Consumer Education Centers.
     
  • Housing Consumer Education Centers (HCECs) (7004-3036): The House authorized $2.3 million for HCECs, level funding this program that supports regional housing organizations across the state that offer a wide range of housing resources, including search assistance, eviction prevention, and homebuyer and foreclosure counseling.
     
  • Tenancy Preservation Program (TPP) (7004-3045): The House funded TPP, a housing court-based homeless prevention program that helps preserve tenancies of people with disabilities, with $750,000 - an increase of $250,000 over the previous year. This will help provide an additional 100 households with TPP services for disabled households facing eviction. During budget debate, an amendment sponsored by Rep. Byron Rushing passed that provided TPP with the additional funding.
     
  • Home & Healthy for Good (HHG) (7004-0104): The House proposed $2.2 million for HHG, a program that provides permanent, supportive housing to chronically homeless individuals. This is an increase of $200,000 over FY2017. During budget debate, an amendment sponsored by Rep. Byron Rushing passed, providing the additional funds for HHG.
     
  • Mass. Access Affordable Housing Registry (4120-4001): The House authorized level-funding of $80,000 for the Massachusetts affordable and accessible housing registry - www.massaccesshousingregistry.org.
     
  • Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Housing & Services (4000-0007): The House included $540,000 for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Housing & Services. It provides wraparound services for unaccompanied youth and young adults under the age of 25 and provides $40,000 for the Y2Y shelter in Cambridge. The original HWM budget did not include this program but was included in the final House budget after passing amendments sponsored by Rep. Jim O'Day and Rep. Marjorie Decker.   
     
  • Community Preservation Trust Fund: The House included an outside section in the budget authorizing a budget-surplus transfer of up to $10 million for the Community Preservation Trust Fund, if there is a surplus at the end of FY2018. The Trust Fund provides the state match to communities that have enacted the Community Preservation Act.

Unfortunately, several of our priorities were not included in the House FY2018 budget, including the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, authorization to expand Housing Court statewide, or Fuel Assistance. We will continue to work with the Legislature to support these important programs.

For a table summarizing the House budget for CHAPA's priorities, please click here.

CHAPA thanks CHAPA thanks Speaker Robert DeLeo, House Ways and Means Chair Brian Dempsey, and Housing Committee Chair Kevin Honan for their leadership on developing the FY2018 House budget and providing such strong support for affordable housing resources.

CHAPA also thanks all our amendment sponsors on our budget priorities, including Rep. Christine Barber, Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, Rep. Nick Collins, Rep. Mike Connolly, Rep. Claire Cronin, Rep. Marjorie Decker, Rep. Paul Donato, Rep. Russell Holmes, Rep. Adrian Madaro, Rep. Paul Mark, Rep. Jim O'Day, Rep. Byron Rushing, and  Rep. Chris Walsh. Finally, CHAPA thanks all our amendment co-sponsors and House members for their support of these important housing programs.

The FY2018 state budget process now moves to the Senate who will its budget proposal in May. The House and Senate will then appoint a conference committee to reconcile the differences between the two budget proposals in time for the start of FY2018 on July 1st.