CHAPA Action Alert! Help Increase Housing & Economic Development. Contact Your State Representative Today!

July 8, 2016

CHAPA CALL TO ACTION!
Contact Your State Representative Today!

Today, the Massachusetts House will take up Economic Development legislation, H.4461(link is external), An Act relative to job creation, workforce development and infrastructure investment. The bill proposes $915 million in investments for critical economic and community development programs, including those that support and create affordable housing.

Please call or email your State Representative today to ask her or him to vote in favor of the Economic Development Bill, H.4461. Click here(link is external) to find your State Representative’s contact information.

The bill authorizes $45 million in capital spending for the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund(link is external), $500 million for the MassWorks Infrastructure Program(link is external), and $15 million for the Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund over the next five years. Each of these programs help create affordable housing across the Commonwealth.

This bill is critical to sustaining our economic development. Massachusetts needs 17,000 new homes each year through 2040 to sustain our job base. We are not building enough housing to meet this demand, which contributes to our high housing costs. Unfortunately, this impacts households across income levels and hits those with low-incomes the hardest. H.4461 will help us meet our housing demand and support our vibrant economy.

In addition to supporting H.4461, please ask your Representative to support the following amendments:

Support Amendment 57(link is external) sponsored by Rep. Kevin Honan. Amendment 57 expands the Massachusetts low-income housing tax credit by up to $2 million through 2019 to help preserve the affordability of 13A developments.
Support Amendment 59(link is external) sponsored by Rep. Kevin Honan. Amendment 59 lowers the voting requirement for a municipality to create a smart growth 40R or starter home district from 2/3rds to a simple majority. This will help cities and towns plan for and produce more affordable housing.
Support Amendment 61(link is external) sponsored by Rep. Kevin Honan. Amendment 61 changes 40R to allow municipalities to create Accessory Dwelling Unit(link is external) (ADU) districts. These ADUs, often called in-law apartments, will help increase our housing supply.
Support Amendment 168(link is external) sponsored by Rep. Christine Barber. Amendment 168 keeps in place the current affordable housing requirements for Urban Center Housing-Tax Increment Financing (UCH-TIF(link is external)) districts, which support commercial redevelopment and affordable housing. While households across income levels are struggling with housing costs, those with low-incomes have the fewest housing options available and our resources should continue to be directed at expanding those affordable housing opportunities.