AARON GORNSTEIN – ‘The future is unclear’
In the midst of the summer months and at the start of the new fiscal year, affordable housing bills – some that will increase production and some that may decrease current funding – are heating things up on Beacon Hill.
The House’s recent unanimous approval of a $200 million housing bond bill, H. 4277, which will recapitalize a pair of trust funds and in turn finance new units of affordable housing, was perhaps the most significant item in the first half of the year.
“The biggest advancement was without doubt the passing of the housing bond bill. It was signed [on July 28] by Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and there are currently no vetoes. Getting this into the works was [the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association’s] No. 1 priority,” said Aaron Gornstein, executive director of CHAPA.
The bill allocates $100 million for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which has 52 applications pending and about $36 million currently on hand for those developments, and $100 million for the Housing Stabilization fund, which has 45 applications pending.
In the House session during which the bill was approved, lawmakers from Boston, Quincy and Fall River spoke out in favor due to exorbitant housing costs in their areas and the complaints they hear consequently.
In the same session Reps. Frank Hynes, D-Marshfield, and William Greene, D-Billerica, pushed to reduce the proposed funds to $180 million in order to alert the Senate that changes must be made to Chapter 40B zoning regulations. They argued that 40B – the state’s so-called anti-snob zoning law – is dividing communities and encouraging irresponsible building practices; the reduction in funds, they said, would account for the approximate 12 percent of bond money typically used to construct 40B projects.
The proposed amendment was rejected by a vote of 147-6.
Last week, a state legislative committee advanced bills that would allow for seven communities to create special programs and divert local funds in order to construct affordable housing. Although a law passed in January allows all Massachusetts communities to set up affordable housing trust funds, members of the Legislature’s Committee on Housing explained that some communities desire to hone their efforts.
Trust funds were authorized in the communities of Brewster, Duxbury, Hamilton, Mansfield and Wellfleet. Legislation also was approved authorizing Somerville to charge developers affordable housing linkage fees. The Nantucket Housing Authority was permitted to transfer certain parcels in order to create affordable housing, which is in short supply on that island.
‘A Huge Priority’
The Committee on Housing’s co-chairmen, Rep. Kevin Honan, D-Brighton, and Sen. Brian Joyce, D-Milton, said they are hoping for continued affordable housing funds to retain residents and help increase commerce in the commonwealth.
In the latest round of affordable housing legislation, ultimately getting a bill passed does not necessary translate to an automatic increase in affordable housing production.
“It’s ultimately Gov. [Mitt Romney’s] prerogative. There are millions of dollars in various bond bills and that money doesn’t necessary get spent. It’s up to the governor to determine funds,” said Gornstein.
Many area organizations are now shifting their focus from pushing the legislative portion of the affordable housing bond bill to centering their efforts upon trying to ensure that the money is well spent and spent quickly.
“We’ve been supportive of the bill. That has been a huge priority for [the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance] and now we’re going to try to make sure that [money] gets spent in an aggressive way. We’ll be continuing our push to get more of that spent quickly so we can refile another bond bill sooner rather than later,” said Thomas Callahan, executive director of Dorchester-based MAHA.
The $200 affordable housing bond would create approximately 1,500 new housing units per year, but even those numbers combined with Lt. Gov. Healey’s signature do not mean that communities will ever see the allocated funds.
“The $200 million affordable housing bill was the most important program over the last five years in terms of increasing affordable housing Â… but the future is unclear,” said Gornstein. “Because of some decisions [the governor’s office] is making it look like the Affordable Housing Trust Fund will be cut. That’s the challenge on the bond bill. It’s been passed, it’s been signed, but in many ways the annual funding levels are the most important thing. We’ve tried to convince the administration, but there are those that don’t support it.”
Not only does Gornstein say he fears that the proposed legislation won’t be actualized, there are also indications that future legislative initiatives may be predisposed for failure because of the current administration.
“There is a huge demand for affordable housing funds. And there are may more worthwhile affordable housing developments than funds available. A number of people and organizations have asked them to increase bonds, but that’s not going to happen. Not with this administration, at least. There’s nothing the Legislature can do,” Gornstein said.
In fact, the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corps. recently released a report entitled “Housing on Hold” that criticizes the administration for delaying 19 affordable housing projects in 10 communities. According to MACDC, the already-approved projects were sponsored by local nonprofit community development corporations but subject to a freeze on funding imposed in February. The delay affected up to 286 new homes for families earning between $40,000 and $60,000, according to the report.
