July 24, 2024


Greetings!


It's almost time for our July Housing and Benefits Committee meeting, coming up this Friday, July 26th, 10:00–11:30 a.m. on Zoom. Please RSVP and plan to join us!


Here is our agenda:


  • Welcome/Introductions


  • Out of Reach Report 2024 – Presented by Lindsay Duvall, Senior Housing Advocacy Organizer, National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)
  • The National Low Income Housing Coalition's "main goals are to preserve existing federally assisted homes and housing resources, expand the supply of low-income housing, and establish housing stability as the primary purpose of federal low-income housing policy."
  • "For more than 35 years, the Out of Reach report has called attention to the disparity between wages and the cost of rental housing in the U.S. Every year the report has shown that affordable rental homes are out of reach for millions of low-wage workers, seniors, families, and other renters. The report’s central statistic, the Housing Wage, is an estimate of the hourly wage a full-time worker must earn to afford a modest rental home at HUD’s fair market rent (FMR) without spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs – the accepted standard of affordability. The FMR is an estimate of what a family moving today can expect to pay for a modestly priced rental home in a given area."
  • A summary of Massachusetts's data can be found here.


  • 2024 State of Menstrual Access Survey in Massachusetts Shelters – Presented by Kate Mittelhauser, Community Organizer, Mass NOW
  • "Mass NOW Inc. works to advance intersectional justice for all women and gender minorities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Members advocate for legislation that promotes: economic equality, reproductive justice, LGBTQ rights, ending gender-based violence, and racial discrimination."
  • "The purpose of the 2024 State of Menstrual Access Survey in MA Shelters is to gain a better understanding of:
  • The experience of menstruators living in shelters and transitional housing 
  • What shelters do and do not provide menstrual products for free 
  • What types of menstrual products shelters provide
  • The type of menstrual products individuals prefer"


  • Overview of Housing Navigator MA & Feedback Survey – Presented by Victoria Decker, Community Manager, Housing Navigator MA
  • Housing Navigator MA is "the “front door” to Massachusetts affordable housing. In August 2021, [they] launched [their] innovative housing search tool. They’ve kept growing from there, including making transparent more than 10,000 accessible (ADA compliant) homes and creating unique availability features like short waitlists. More than 80 owners are active, and service providers rely on the site daily to support people looking for housing."
  • Are you interested in providing housing search feedback and getting a gift card? Housing Navigator MA wants to hear from people all over the state who have searched for housing, and may have used the Housing Navigator MA search tool in the past. Your feedback is vital to helping [them] improve and clarify the affordable housing search process! Complete this two-minute survey and [they will] be in touch soon with selected participants about housing search feedback surveys and interviews."


  • Upcoming Draft of Massachusetts's Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) – Presented by Jordan Stocker, ILC Housing Projects Coordinator, A Project of the Massachusetts Association of Independent Living Centers and the Massachusetts Statewide Independent Living Council
  • The Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) "governs Massachusetts's low income housing tax credit allocation decisions each year." To access the 2022-2023 QAP, click here.
  • Resources for context:
  • LIHTC/QAP 101 Article via Shelterforce
  • The Kelsey's QAP Accessibility Advocacy Page
  • Various disability organizers and advocates have been developing recommendations for accessibility and affordability provisions in the state's upcoming draft, drawing from the successes other states have had.
  • Preliminary recommendations are as follows:
  • Make 10% of all units in each project funded by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) accessible
  • Ensure that the accessible units target individuals with incomes at and below 30% Area Median Income (AMI)
  • Increase transparency/reporting requirements for LIHTC properties (i.e. how many voucher tenants occupy units, clear income designation in leases, information about when a property plans to exit the program, etc.)


  • Updates on the Emergency Assistance Family Shelter System & Time Limits – Presented by Kelly Turley, Associate Director, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless
  • On July 23rd, the Healey administration announced that beginning August 1st, overflow, or 'safety-net' shelters will become temporary respite centers with a five-day stay limit. If families experiencing homelessness accept five days of shelter at a temporary respite center, they become ineligible for a longer term placement in the emergency assistance shelter program for 6 months. Additionally, "families will be prioritized for placement in EA shelters if they are homeless because of a no-fault eviction or because of sudden or unusual circumstances in Massachusetts beyond their control, such as a flood or fire, or if they have at least one member who is a veteran. Families will continue to be prioritized if they have significant medical needs, newborn children, are at risk of domestic violence, or are homeless because of fire, flood, or other disasters." Read the Governor's press release here.
  • The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless calls on the Administration and Legislature to reverse these policy changes and provide needed shelter and housing. If this policy moves forward, more families and children will be forced to sleep outside or in places not meant for human habitation. We call on the Commonwealth to uphold the letter and spirit of the right to shelter law, which has been in effect for four decades. Please join the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, advocates, providers, people with lived experience of homelessness and housing instability, and others on Monday, July 29th at 11:00 a.m. in front of the State House on Beacon Street. For more information, please see the flyer.
  • Based on language in Chapter 88 of the Acts of 2024, which was signed into law by Governor Maura Healey on April 30th, there is a new general nine-month time limit on how long families can stay in Emergency Assistance (EA) shelter, with requirements for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) to provide up to two 90-day extensions to eligible families and to establish a hardship waiver process. The law also limits the number of shelter terminations to no more than 150 families per week.
  • In early July, EOHLC began sending out notices to families who have been in shelter for over 9 months. EOHLC is issuing/plans to issue three types of notices, letting families know that they:
  1. Have been granted their first 90-day extension
  2. Have not been granted a 90-day extension, but that they can submit additional information for reconsideration
  3. Have not been selected this month to be assessed for a 90-day extension, but may be selected in an upcoming month
  • For more information on the length of stay policy, click here.
  • On June 28th, the Healey administration announced that beginning July 9th, people experiencing homelessness will be banned from sleeping at Boston Logan International Airport. Check out the Healey Administration's press release and this Boston Globe article for more information.


  • Updates on Governor Healey's Housing Bond Bill/Affordable Homes Act Presented by Kelly Turley, Associate Director, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless
  • On July 3rd, three House members were named to the Affordable Homes Act Conference Committee: Joint Committee on Housing Chair Jim Arciero, House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz, and Joint Committee on Housing Ranking Minority Member David DeCoste. On July 8th, three Senate members were named to the committee: Senate President Pro Tempore William Brownsberger, Joint Committee on Housing Chair Lydia Edwards, and Senate Assistant Minority Leader Peter Durant.
  • Check out the Coalition's most recent action alert for the Coalition's key housing bond bill conference committee priority requests in the final version of the bill.
  • In late June, the Senate Committee on Ways and Means released its version of the housing bond bill, Amendment S.2834. It contained $5.2 billion in proposed housing-centered bond authorizations and tax credits for the next five years, $1.1 billion more than Governor Healey's proposal, House Bill 4138, and $1 billion less than the House Committee on Ways and Means' version, House Bill 4707.
  • The Senate conducted its debate in late June, reviewing 333 amendments. Amendments were considered under one of two bundles or individually on the floor.
  • For outcomes of key amendments to the Senate version of the Affordable Homes Act, check out the Coalition's action alert here.
  • The final version of the Senate bill, Amendment S.2850, can be found here.
  • Read more about what was included in the Senate version of the housing bond bill in this summary from our colleagues at Citizens' Housing and Planning Association.


  • Updates on the FY2025 State Budget – Presented by Kelly Turley, Associate Director, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless
  • On July 18th, the FY25 Budget Conference Committee released its recommendations for the fiscal year that began back on July 1st. On July 19th, the House and Senate voted to adopt the Conference Committee recommendations (154–3 in the House and 40–0 in the Senate). The budget, House Bill 4800, is now on Governor Healey's desk. She has until July 29th to sign the budget and issue vetoes.
  • See the Coalition's budget chart for more details: https://tinyurl.com/mchfy2025.
  • In early June, the three House members and three Senate members who make up the FY25 budget Conference Committee began meeting to iron out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget. The conferees are Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, Senate Ways and Means Vice Chair Cindy Friedman, Senate Ways and Means Ranking Minority Member Patrick O’Connor, House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz, House Ways and Means Vice Chair Ann-Margaret Ferrante, and House Ways and Means Ranking Minority Member Todd Smola.


  • Announcements


Click here to RSVP for our July 26th meeting (or go to tinyurl.com/mch-hb-rsvp.)


Best wishes,

Julia and Kelly


Julia Garvey

Community Organizer/Legislative Advocate

Pronouns: She/her/hers

julia.garvey@mahomeless.org


Kelly Turley

Associate Director

Pronouns: She/her/hers

kelly@mahomeless.org

Questions or suggestions for agenda items for upcoming meetings? Email Julia at julia.garvey@mahomeless.org

We hope to see you soon!

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