Sen. Jarrett T. Barrios, D-Cambridge, testifies at a State House public hearing last week in support of a bill that would provide state matching funds to employers who help workers buy and rent homes. The bill is one of more than a dozen under consideration by the Joint Committee on Housing and Urban Development.

At a time when many state-funded programs are on the chopping block, advocates are pressing lawmakers to preserve and establish housing programs, including those that help some of the state’s most vulnerable citizens.

Housing advocates and lawmakers spoke in support of several bills at a State House public hearing last week, including a measure that would continue a loan program that has helped families with disabled children make home modifications and legislation that would give cash incentives to Bay State employers who help workers buy and rent homes.

The so-called employer-assisted housing bill comes after several reports have revealed that businesses in Massachusetts are having trouble attracting and retaining workers because of soaring home prices. Recognizing the challenge, some colleges, hospitals and businesses already have established programs to help employees find homes. Citizens Bank, for example, provides forgivable loans of $5,000 or $8,000 to employees earning less than $100,000 to help them purchase a home.

Groups like the Citizens Housing and Planning Association, the Massachusetts Housing Partnership Fund and Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce are hoping to get more businesses to participate in employer-assisted housing by having the state offer financial incentives. Under bills filed by Sen. Jarrett T. Barrios, D-Cambridge, and Rep. Robert P. Spellane, D-Worcester, businesses that assist workers to purchase or rent housing would be eligible to receive $1 in matching state funds for every $2 they contribute in those efforts.

State contributions would be capped at $100,000 for each business. The program would leverage $10 million annually from employers, according to supporters of the bill, and require the state to set aside about $5 million annually from the general fund.

“We are finding it difficult to fill … jobs because employees can’t find housing,” said Barrios, who testified before the Joint Committee on Housing and Urban Development at last Wednesday’s hearing.

Under the bill, any employer-assisted housing program that is set up would have to be geared toward workers earning up to 120 percent of the median income. In addition, the bill would require that at least 50 percent of any program funds be provided to workers earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income. Those income guidelines would ensure that lower-wage employees, like secretaries and clerks, and young college graduates and professionals just beginning their careers get assistance, explained Barrios.

Funds could be used to help workers pay down payments, closing costs, security deposits and first month’s rent.

Nationwide Effort

Last year, CHAPA, along with the Greater Boston Chamber of Housing and Fannie Mae, kicked off a nationwide effort to promote employer-assisted housing programs. The chamber helped create a guidebook on employer-assisted housing initiatives that it is distributing to chambers throughout the country.

“Employer-assisted housing programs can decrease turnover and related costs, increase morale and help revitalize communities,” said CHAPA Assistant Director Chris Norris.

Groups like CHAPA are pushing for passage of the legislation, pointing to studies that show Greater Boston’s housing costs are among the highest in the country.

In a study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition last year, Massachusetts was identified as the least affordable state for rental housing. Specifically, the study showed that the Bay State is the most expensive state to rent a two-bedroom apartment, forcing people to earn three times the minimum wage in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment.

Last year, the Boston Foundation came out with its own report showing how housing construction has lagged during the last several years, leading to a sharp spike in prices and rents in Greater Boston.

In addition to the employer-assisted housing bill, the Joint Committee on Housing and Urban Development also heard testimony about a $150 million bond bill concerning housing programs for disabled and elderly people.

Part of the bond bill would re-fund the home modifications loan program, which provides money to families to make renovations to their homes to accommodate family members with physical disabilities. Supporters are requesting $25 million to continue the program, which was originally funded through a bond bill passed in 1998 to provide $10 million over the next five years. Since the program was established, it has provided average loans of $21,000 to more than 300 families to make home modifications.

Kristen White, a parent who has a 6-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy, said she was able to use a loan from the program along with a home equity loan to add a first-floor bedroom and bathroom to her Melrose home.

“This loan helped us make our home accessible for our daughter, and it also helped us remain in our home,” said White.

Folded into the same bond bill are other funding requests that would continue a program created about 12 years ago that has helped create community-based housing for the mentally retarded, and also create a housing production program to help mentally retarded individuals who are institutionalized or may be institutionalized.

Lawmakers also are considering more technical bills, including one that would change the way the Affordable Housing Trust Fund is affected. The $100 million fund was established in 2001 to provide $20 million annually for five years to create and maintain affordable housing. But earlier this year, Gov. Mitt Romney made a $7.5 million cut to the trust fund for the fiscal year 2003 budget as part of his budget-balancing efforts.

He also proposed shifting the trust fund to the state’s capital bond budget, instead of providing funding through the state’s operating budget. Housing advocates aren’t thrilled with the idea, preferring the more reliable cash appropriation than waiting for legislators to approve affordable housing spending under the state’s bond cap.

Last week, however, CHAPA and the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations said they would support the shift, but urged lawmakers to restore the $7.5 million that was cut from this year’s spending.

Community development corporations throughout the state have tapped about $12 million from the trust fund to develop more than 700 housing units, according to MACDC Housing Director Andrea Luquetta.

“We want to see [the trust fund] maintained in the operating budget,” said Luquetta, adding that MACDC wants the funding to continue, even if means shifting it to the bond budget.

Aglaia Pikounis may be reached at
apikounis@thewarrengroup.com.