CHAPA Priority Amendments for House FY2024 Budget Debate | Citizens' Housing And Planning Association

Post date

April 21, 2023

Eric Shupin

Director of Public Policy

Abhi Kurve

Deputy Director of Public Policy

CHAPA thanks the House Ways & Means Committee for its FY2024 budget proposal which included strong investments in affordable housing, homelessness prevention, and community development programs!

As the House prepares to debate its budget the week of August 24, CHAPA is working to further strengthen these programs.

Please contact your State Representative today to ask them to co-sponsor the following amendments to help everyone have a safe, healthy, accessible, and affordable home!

#	Program	Sponsor	Description
843	Mass. Rental Voucher Program (MRVP)	Rep. Howard	Increases funding to $250 million to provide for 6,000 new MRVP vouchers
1329	Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP)	Rep. Consalvo	Allows project basing of AHVP vouchers to build new affordable, accessible homes to address the lack of homes for people with disabilities
392	Public Housing	Rep. Sena	Increases funding to $112 million to provide more for the operating and maintenance of the 43,000 homes provided by public housing
842	Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT)	Rep. Howard	Increases RAFT funding to $250 million for short term rental assistance to eligible households
1483	RAFT Improvements	Rep. Decker	Makes following improvements to RAFT program: Prohibits DHCD from imposing a notice to quit requirement on households Requires direct-to-tenant payments in cases where the landlord is not cooperative with the RAFT application process Directs DHCD to provide forward rent payments for households without rental arrearages Directs DHCD to provide multiple months of assistance as long as the award would not exceed the 12-month benefit cap
966	Public Housing Reform	Rep. Fiola	Increases funding by $2 million for improving participation in tenant organizations and provide other supportive services for public housing tenants
498	Improvements to HomeBASE	Rep. Barber	Increases HomeBASE benefit to $30,000 for every 24 month period Removes income increases as terms for ineligibility
1137	Access to Counsel	Rep. Rogers	Provides $7 million to start an Access to Counsel Program to provide legal assistance for low-income tenants and low-income owner occupant landlords in eviction proceedings
489	Affordable Accessible Housing Grants	Rep. Consalvo	Allocates $2.5 million for the capital grants for production of affordable accessible housing that prioritizes AHVP voucher holders
974	Housing and Services for Unaccompanied Youth Experiencing Homelessness	Rep. O’Day	Increases funding to $12 million for housing & services for youth experiencing homelessness
1243	DMH Rental Subsidy	Rep. Garballey	Increases allocation to $20.5 million for housing people experiencing homelessness and disabling mental health conditions
1308	Brownfields Tax Credit	Rep. Finn	Extends the tax credit, which helps clean up environmentally distressed sites, for 5 years which is set to expire in August 2023
502	Community Preservation Act (CPA)	Rep. Schmid	Allows transfer of up to $30 million from any state budget surplus funds into the state CPA Trust Fund
1491	Saving Towards Affordable & Sustainable Homeownership Program (STASH)	Rep. McGonagle	Allocates $3.5 million to STASH to support a matched savings program for first-generation, first-time homebuyers in Massachusetts
962, 1519	MassDREAMS	Rep. Williams	Allocates $200 million for MassDREAMS to create homeownership opportunities for people in disadvantaged communities