With the legislative session entering its final month, omnibus bills are coming fast and furious. An omnibus bill packages several smaller bills into one bill; it can include appropriations and policy items. Check out what we know about what is in these bills so far.

House

HHS Committees:

• Emergency services Program

  • Moves ESP from a base budget of 844k/year to 9m/year

• Shelter Capital

  • Adds 2.5m/year until 2026 of shelter capital for increasing and maintaining the supply of shelters across the state

• Long Term Homeless Supportive Services

  • Adds 1m/year to the base budget for LTHSS

• Absence waiver (county version) for Housing supports

Housing Committee:  

The omnibus housing bill will be heard on the House Floor, Thursday April 15th; it, for good reason, does not include the eviction moratorium off-ramp proposal, HF12, (see below). The bill has $30 million in additional spending, $5 million is ongoing base funding (see funding increases below which include some non-agenda items).

Funding:

• Bridges Housing Voucher

  • $1 Million base increase 

• Homework Starts With Home

  • $1 Million base increase

• Lead Safe Homes Program

  • $2 Million one-time & $1.5 Million base increase

• Workforce Homeownership Program

  • $3.5 Million onetime & $1.5 Base increase

• Challenge Program - $6 million one-time increase

• Manufactured Home Park Infrastructure Grants

  • $2 Million one-time increase

• Local Housing Trust-Fund Match

  • $3 Million one-time increase

• Homeowner Assistance Fund

  • $1 Million one-time

• HECAT

  • $500k one-time 

• NOAH Preservation

  • $ one-time

• Shelter Provider Task-Force

  • $455K one-time

Policy:

• Tenant rights and protections are all in the House’s Omnibus Housing Bill:

  • Pre-eviction notice of 14 days

  • Eviction expungement reforms

  • Prohibition of non-optional fees for non-optional services (e.g., move-in fee, payment electronic portal fee, January fee)

  • Statewide minimum heat code

  • Privacy violations

  • Emergency repairs and related court costs

  • Break lease in case of infirmity

• Eviction moratorium off-ramp (HF12):   Homes for All believes long-term housing policies should be considered separately from the short-term issue of ending the moratorium appropriately, as HF12 for the most part does:

  • It is tied to the peacetime emergency.

  • It will take an extended amount of time to phase out, giving time for the financial assistance coming from the federal government time to get into the bank accounts of landlords.

  • It requires landlords to notify tenants prior to an eviction being filed and provides tenants with time to cure the issue at the heart of a potential eviction action -- usually non-payment of rent.

Judiciary & Civil Law:

• Prevent Source of Income Discrimination Poilcy & Funding Included

Taxes:

• Workforce Homeownership Program 

  • $15 Million Base Funding

    • Through Capture of Mortgage Registry & Deed Tax

• 4d Adjustment Study

• $25m Youth homeless Prevention

Capital Investments:

• Housing Infrastructure Bonds (HIBs)

  • $150 for Permanent Affordable Housing

    • New Use: Deeper Affordability without Supportive Services

    • New Use: Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing Preservation

  • $50 Million for Shelters (One-time)

    • $10 Million carve out for Simpson Housing Services

• GO Bonds

  • $100 Million for public housing rehab

Senate

HHS Committees:

• Housing supports

• $100/month base rate increase

• Absence waiver for people seeking medical treatment to exceed the 18 day absence policy

Housing Committee:

The committee had a $0 budget target so any funding increases mean that funding was cut from another program.

Funding:

• Challenge Program

  • $2 Million Cut

• Rental Housing Rehab Program

  • $2 Million Cut

• Build Wealth

  • $1 Million Cut

• HECAT

  • $300k one-time

• Workforce Homeownership Program

• $3.2 Million one-time

• Manufactured Home Park Infrastructure Grants

  • $1.5 Million one-time

Policy

• Tenant rights/protections:  The Senate Omnibus Housing bill includes none of Homes for All’s tenant right/protections proposals.  Also, it includes the Senate’s eviction moratorium off-ramp proposal, which Homes for All believes should be negotiated separately from longer-term policy change proposals (see above).

Judiciary & Civil Law:

Nothing included at the moment

Taxes:

The bill hasn’t been released yet, but we expect the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Bill to be included as well pushed by MHP.

• Property Tax Subcommittee Bill

  • 4d tax simplification

Capital Investments:

No Bill at the Moment