From housingminnesota at mhponline.org Thu Jan 13 09:14:55 2005 From: housingminnesota at mhponline.org (HousingMN Communications ) Date: Thu Jan 13 09:14:58 2005 Subject: HousingMinnesota Bulletin - Volume 4, Issue 1 1-13-05 Message-ID: <91CE81A8B5C57940AA99ECF1E2A1606063EC59@mhpserver.mhponline.org> HousingMinnesota Homes for All by 2012! The Bulletin January 13, 2005 Volume 4, Issue 1 Distributed bi-weekly, this bulletin contains news, announcements, legislative updates, publications and upcoming events. We hope you'll find it helpful in keeping you abreast of important developments. Don't hesitate to contact us with items to include in future issues. The Bulletin is also available on MHP's website at http://www.mhponline.org/Bulletin/Bulletin.htm. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * News/Announcements >From the Capitol: Unfinished Business and New Opportunities Unfinished Business Bonding is a high priority for all. The session started January 4th and some of the first bills introduced will address the unfinished business from last session. Passing a capital investment (bonding) bill early in the session is a high priority for the Legislature and Governor. Senate File 1 includes a total of $948 million in bonding with $20 million going toward permanent supportive housing. House File 3 is the House bonding bill and it includes a total of $642 million in bonding with $10 million earmarked for permanent supportive housing. (This is an improvement over the House bill last year, which included nothing for housing.) Governor Pawlenty released his priorities for bonding totaling $816 million and includes his $20 million initiative for supportive housing. Some observers say passing a bonding bill early would undermine the newly won power the House minority caucus has gained with the new seats they picked up in the election, narrowing the majority's margin to 68-66. Since a supermajority requiring 3/5 of each body's votes is needed to pass a bonding bill the House minority has some leverage they did not have last session. Housing advocates continue to hold the $20 million bonding initiative as a very high priority. The State's plan to end long-term homelessness needs this jumpstart to keep up the momentum. Tax policy. For housing advocates, another crucial piece of unfinished business is the issue of property tax relief for affordable rental property. (See the recent Star Tribune article, Urban living: Up, up and away?) Last session advocates had a solution included in the Senate's omnibus tax bill that had a good chance of being signed into law, but the legislative logjam prevented the tax bills from being conferenced. Advocates will work to address the issue this session. The state budget. The 06-07 budget deficit of $700 million ($1.4 billion with inflation) is yet another piece of business. The governor's budget will be released on or before January 25th and Pawlenty has promised that health and human services program cuts will be part of his budget solution. Pawlenty remains committed to his "no new taxes" pledge. New Opportunities Every session presents a new set of opportunities. This year, opportunities are plentiful with 26 freshmen House Members to educate about housing issues. ( 2005-2006 House Members) Changes in House committee structure, chairs, and membership also present some new opportunities for housing advocates. ( 2005-2006 House Committees) Formerly known as the Jobs and Economic Development Finance committee, Chairman Gunther's committee has been renamed the Jobs and Economic Opportunity Policy and Finance committee. While this committee has had jurisdiction over Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and other housing programs for several years, its jurisdiction will expand to include human services programs including MFIP and childcare. Information on Gunther's newly structured committee including new staff and members is on the web: Jobs and Economic Opportunity committee. The rationale behind the change in the committee's jurisdiction is to better link human services programs and MFIP to a focus on jobs and work. The new committee focus bolsters the arguments housing advocates have been using for years-housing assistance is critical to individual economic opportunity and the state's future economic development. (Rachel Callanan, Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless policy advocate and former HousingMinnesota policy director, will contribute bi-weekly updates from the Capitol. She may be reached at callanan@mnhomelesscoalition.org.) Bush Budget Plans Include Cuts to Housing Programs In an effort to reduce the federal budget deficit, the Bush Administration plans to cut domestic spending in FY 2006 including housing programs, according to a January 8 New York Times article. "Administration officials and Congressional aides said Mr. Bush would also seek cuts in housing assistance for low-income families, freezes or slight increases in most domestic programs, and larger increases for domestic security." To read the entire article go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/politics/09budget1.html?oref=login. (You may need to login - a free service.) MHFA Announces New Performance Awards Pilot Project The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, the Family Housing Fund, the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund and several housing and community development stakeholders known as the Housing Resource Advisory Committee (HRAC) have been discussing whether and how alternative means of distributing resources might better maximize opportunities for affordable housing. One potential alternative developed through the HRAC process is the "Performance Awards Pilot Project." Under the Pilot Project, up to three communities would have the opportunity to access affordable housing resources on a multi-year basis, subject to appropriations, to develop and implement a housing plan based on a housing needs analysis. A portion of the resources for affordable housing currently allocated primarily through the "Super RFP" process managed by the MHFA would be made available for the Pilot Project; the amount of funds that might be made available is dependent on the types of proposals selected for participation in the project. MHFA is seeking feedback from interested communities to indicate their potential interest in working on the development of and participating in the Pilot Project. Communities that are interested in pursuing this opportunity must send a letter of interest (via fax, e-mail, regular mail, or delivery) to the MHFA no later than 4:00 p.m. on February 11, 2005. For more information go to http://www.mhfa.state.mn.us/about/Awards_Pilot.htm. HousingMinnesota Launches the Business Bulletin In addition to the bi-weekly Bulletin, HousingMinnesota will now periodically distribute the Business Bulletin with specific housing information and resources for the business sector. See a copy of the Business Bulletin at www.housingminnesota.org/business or contact Meghan Kane at mkane@mhponline.org to be added to the list. Affordable housing on The Mary Hanson Show Viewers in the 7-county area can tune in at 9 p.m. to Channel 6, the Metro Cable Network (MCN), January 24, 31 and February 7 to learn more about affordable housing in our community. Fifteen downtown Minneapolis congregations have been working as a coalition, Congregations Building Community (CBC), to address this problem, partnering with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. They will be featured on the show as well as Stephen Seidel, Director of Urban Programs, Habitat for Humanity International and HousingMinnesota Steering Committee Chair. * Monday, January 24: Affordable Housing, Part I -- Guests are Father Michael O'Connell, Rector, Basilica of St. Mary; Tim Hart-Andersen, Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church; and Marion Etzwiler, Co-Chair, CBC. * Monday, January 31: Affordable Housing, Part II -- Guests are Stephen Seidel, Director of Urban Programs, Habitat for Humanity International; and Marion Etzwiler, Co-chair, CBC. * Monday, February 7: Affordable Housing, Part III -- Guests are Reverend Al Gallmon, Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church; Don Samuels, Minneapolis City Councilman, Ward 3; and Douglas Mitchell, Associate Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church. The series will also be aired 8 p.m. on Channel 17, Minneapolis (MTN), and 6:30 p.m. on Channel 15, St. Paul (SPNN), January 26, February 2 and 9. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Reading The Crisis in America's Housing: Confronting Myths and Promoting a Balanced Housing Policy This report, released January debunks three myths about housing policy and provides indicators to demonstrate how well states are housing their residents. For a complete copy of the report go to: http://www.nlihc.org/research/housingmyths.pdf. American Planning Association Reader The American Planning Association (APA) has created an Affordable Housing Reader, a collection of articles and reports from its several publications that focus on a broad range of affordable housing issues. This Reader serves as an excellent reference point for affordable housing issues from an urban planning perspective, and should be appealing to those wanting to look at the literature in more depth. Previously, many of the articles were out-of-print or only available to APA members. It is available at www.planning.org/affordablereader. The APA has dubbed affordable housing a "supertopic" that it will focus on throughout the year. (Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition Memo to Members 1/7/05) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Upcoming Events January 28 St. Cloud Housing Tour, 9-11:30 a.m., St. Cloud. Local business leaders, educators and legislators are invited visit local affordable housing developments that are leveraging resources from the state and federal government to meet the housing needs of St. Cloud residents. For more information about the housing tours, or to reserve your place contact Joanna Dornfeld at (651) 649-1710 ext. 108 or jdornfeld@mhponline.org. January 19-21 building HOME training, Grand Rios Hotel, Brooklyn Park, Minn. This training, sponsored by the Minnesota Housing Partnership with a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will provide comprehensive information on the HOME program and clarify four HOME-eligible activities: owner-occupied rehabilitation, homeownership, rental housing and tenant based rental assistance. For more information go to http://www.mhponline.org/Building%20HOME%20brochure.pdf or contact Ann at (651) 649-1710 ext. 100 or (800) 728-8916 ext. 100. March 10 Lobby Day at the State Capitol 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., State Capitol. Our annual Rally and Lobby Day at the State Capitol is your chance to meet individually with your representatives, and to join together collectively in the rotunda to tell Minnesota that you support Homes for All! Please register online at http://www.housingminnesota.org/event_registration.cfm?EventID=58. For more information contact Tom Goldstein at (651) 649-1710 ext. 106 or tgoldstein@mhponline.org. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Looking for something from the last Bulletin? Archived issues are available online at: http://www.mhponline.org/Bulletin/Bulletin.htm For more information on affordable housing, the content of this document, or if you have news or events to include in future issues, contact Joanna Dornfeld at (651) 649-1710 ext. 108, email jdornfeld@mhponline.org or see HousingMinnesota's website at www.housingminnesota.org . -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mapnp.Geeks.ORG/pipermail/mhp-bulletin/attachments/20050113/e5ef0f91/attachment.html From housingminnesota at mhponline.org Thu Jan 27 15:05:09 2005 From: housingminnesota at mhponline.org (HousingMN Communications ) Date: Thu Jan 27 19:43:26 2005 Subject: HousingMinnesota Bulletin - Volume 4, Issue 2 1-27-05 Message-ID: <91CE81A8B5C57940AA99ECF1E2A1606063EC63@mhpserver.mhponline.org> HousingMinnesota Homes for All by 2012! The Bulletin January 27, 2005 Volume 4, Issue 2 Distributed bi-weekly, this bulletin contains news, announcements, legislative updates, publications and upcoming events. We hope you'll find it helpful in keeping you abreast of important developments. Don't hesitate to contact us with items to include in future issues. The Bulletin is also available on MHP's website at http://www.mhponline.org/Bulletin/Bulletin.htm. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * News/Announcements >From the Capitol: Pawlenty Budget Sends Mixed Signals on Housing In 2004 Minnesota Housing Finance Agency unveiled the administration's five strategic goals to meet Minnesota's housing needs. They included: 1) ending long-term homelessness, 2) increase homeownership for underserved populations, 3) preserve existing affordable housing, 4) increase housing choices for low- and moderate-income workers to support economic vitality, and 5) MHFA should be viewed as a housing resource of choice. While these strategic goals hold out the promise of real progress on each of these fronts under the Pawlenty administration, Pawlenty's budget undermines his own stated objectives in some of these areas and sends mixed signals on his commitment to meet Minnesotans' housing needs. Pawlenty demonstrates his commitment to securing a good funding start for the state plan to end long-term homelessness, but it is unfortunate that he does this by undermining other crucial areas of the housing continuum. Pawlenty cuts and redirects significant resources from MHFA's base budget. The overall cut to MHFA is 19.5 percent for a total of $15 million in cuts. $10 million of the cut is redirected from the Challenge program to Department of Human Services to help fund supportive housing services as part of the administration's plan to end long-term homelessness. Additionally, $4 million is redirected from the cuts listed below to the Housing Trust Fund and is earmarked for the efforts to end long-term homelessness. Cuts to MHFA housing programs include: * Economic Development and Housing Challenge Fund-cut by $13 million (60 percent) This program funds the construction and rehab of rental and homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income workers. The annual median household income of people served by the Challenge fund is $28,974. At current funding levels, there are 5 requests for funding for every project that gets funded. * Affordable Rental Assistance Program for Preservation (PARIF)-cut by $1.5 million (8 percent) This program is critical in the movement to preserve existing affordable rental housing that is at risk of being lost as a resource to the state and the thousands of very low-income and elderly households that live in the units. The annual median household income of people served by the PARIF program is $8,320. As many as 150 affordable units could be lost if this cut is passed. * Rehabilitation Loan Program-cut by $2.6 million (33 percent) The Rehab Loan program provides deferred loans for low-income households to make needed repairs on their homes. The annual median household income of people served by this program is $11,592. The agency estimates that 132 fewer households will access these important loans that help keep people in their homes and assists with the preservation of existing housing stock. * Housing Assistance Fund-cut by $1.7 million (100 percent cut for the 06-07 biennium which continues a zeroing out of this program that occurred for the 04-05 biennium) The HAF program helps first time homebuyers with downpayment assistance and entry costs. This program is a primary resource for the agency's efforts to increase homeownership in underserved communities. The annual median household income for the HAF program is $30,996. The agency estimates that with this cut 327 fewer families will be helped into homeownership. * Nonprofit Capacity Building Program-cut by $110,000 (18 percent) This program provides important support, training resources and funding for networking across the state among affordable housing nonprofits. Nonprofits facilitate a lion's share of the affordable housing development and rehab across the state. This significant cut will undermine the important infrastructure necessary to make progress toward Minnesota's affordable housing goals. * Renter's Credit-Cut by $30.8 million in 07 and beyond. Advocates had been informed months ago that the Department of Revenue was considering a cut to the renter's credit. The Governor's budget does include a significant cut to the credit totaling $30.8 million in the second year of the biennium. The cut is accomplished by changing the percentage on which the credit is based. Under current law, it is assumed that 19 percent of a typical tenant's rent goes toward property taxes and is used as a theoretical basis for calculating the credit. Pawlenty would reduce the percentage to 16 percent in 2007 and to 15 percent in 2008 and beyond for a further reduction in the years beyond the 06-07 biennium. This means that for the out years there would likely be more than a $60 million reduction to credits paid out to low-income renters for the 08-09 biennium. Full information on Governor Pawlenty's 06-07 budget may be found at the Department of Finance web site at: http://www.finance.state.mn.us/. (Rachel Callanan, Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless policy advocate and former HousingMinnesota policy director, will contribute bi-weekly updates from the Capitol. She may be reached at callanan@mnhomelesscoalition.org.) Significant Cuts and Shifts in HUD Programs Planned On January 14, a Washington Post article by Jonathan Weisman, titled "Bush Plans Sharp Cuts in HUD Community Efforts" reported the Bush administration's plans to disburse HUD community development programs to other federal agencies. Key pieces of the proposal include: * The Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) is facing as much as a 50% budget cut. * CDBG, Brownfields Economic Development and Empowerment Zones/Renewal Communities Programs would be moved to the Depaprtment of Commerce. * Youthbuild USA, a program that teaches teens construction skills, would be moved to the Labor Department. * The Rural Housing & Economic Development program would likely be eliminated. * $260 million earmarked by lawmakers for economic development projects would be eliminated. The President's FY2006 budget proposal will officially be sent to Congress on February 7. (Minneapolis Consortium for Community Developers Housing Update 1/20/05) Mayors Kelly and Rybak Sign Covenant to End Chronic Homelessness At the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 39 Mayors from across the U.S., including St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, joined in signing a covenant of partnership to end chronic homelessness, in conjunction with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. "As a group of cities varying in size and geography we will explore and implement strategies that will create a visible, measurable, and quantifiable reduction of chronic homelessness on our streets and in our shelters with the intent of ending this national disgrace," the covenant stated. For more information on the Covenant of Partnership, go to: http://www.ich.gov/newsletter/archive/01-21-05_e-newsletter.htm (Alliance to End Homelessness Newsletter 1/24/05) Housing Assistance Council Announces New Green Fund With support from the Home Depot Foundation, HAC has created the HAC/Home Depot Foundation Green Fund, a competitive grants program that will make awards of $10,000 to $20,000 to local rural housing nonprofits to support green building/healthy homes techniques and practices in their housing development activities. Applications are available at http://www.ruralhome.org and are due March 15, 2005. For more information, contact Carolyn Branton, HAC, 404-892-4824, carolyn@ruralhome.org. (Housing Assistance Council News 1/26/05) Greater Minnesota Housing Fund Announces 2005 Acquisition Cost Limits To promote lower building costs and to encourage local participation in projects, the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund (GMHF) has developed an acquisition cost limit (ACL) for single-family homes receiving GMHF interim and/or homebuyer gap financing. To allow larger families with children adequate living space, GMHF allows a higher ACL to finish more space for those families. In addition to the standard ACL, a "high cost" limit has been created to provide greater flexibility in areas with rapidly rising development costs. For a copy of the limits, go to: http://www.gmhf.com/Home/policies_and_forms/2005-ACL-Limits.pdf. Minnesota Awarded $22 Million in HUD Continuum of Care and Emergency Shelter Grants The competitive programs provide funding for transitional and permanent housing and supportive services. The Emergency Shelter Grant provides homeless prevention and emergency assistance. For a list of the recipients go to: http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/budget/2004/mn/totals.xls. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Reading Foster Youth: HHS Actions Could Improve Coordination of Services and Monitoring of States' Independent Living Programs The report surveyed independent living coordinators in all 50 states and the District of Columbia on the development and implementation of their fiscal year 2003 Chafee Independent Living Programs for youth in foster care. According to the Government Accountability Office report, youth stated that locating safe and stable housing after leaving foster care was one of their primary concerns. Forty-six states reported using Chafee funds to offer a range of housing supports including rent assistance, group housing, supervised apartment sites and unsupervised apartment sites with case manager visits. Less than half of states reported using HUD or state housing authority resources for former foster youth. State officials consistently reported difficulties meeting the housing needs of youth because of a lack of employment history, lack of or poor credit history, no co-signer, lack of rental housing in rural areas, lack of available affordable housing or insufficient housing subsidies. For the complete report go to http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0525.pdf. Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council The report states that the shortage of affordable rental housing, including housing with supportive services, is a serious problem for released prisoners. Recommendations include partnerships between corrections officials and community organizations to provide information to inmates, and increasing the rental housing supply in low-income communities. For a copy of the report go to: http://www.reentrypolicy.org . (Housing Assistance Council News 1/26/05) Rethinking Rental Housing: Expanding the Ability of Rental Housing to Serve as a Pathway to Economic and Social Opportunity A paper from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies concludes that homeownership may be a good choice for many but not necessarily the best for all, and recommends policy changes. For a copy of the report go to http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/markets/w04-11.pdf (Housing Assistance Council News 1/26/05) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Upcoming Events January 27- March 27 Home Sweet Home Again: A Visual Art Presentation Focusing on Affordable Housing Shortages, 6:30pm Opening Reception. Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave. S, Minneapolis. To raise awareness and consciousness regarding affordable housing, Intermedia Arts and the Family Housing Fund are partnering to present Home Sweet Home Again. This exhibition stems from the successful 2000 Home Sweet Home exhibit. Home Sweet Home Again includes more than 75 pieces of visual artwork and 28 poems by local artists and poets on homelessness, affordable housing and the meaning of home. For more information about Home Sweet Home Again or the Family Housing Fund, please contact Shawna Nelsen Tobechukwu at 612-375-9644, ext. 13 or by e-mail at shawna@fhfund.org. January 30 Living Regionally: Linking Housing, Transit, and Jobs, 3:00pm Registration and previous training review, 3:30pm Workshop. Plymouth Congregational Church, 1900 Nicollet Ave. & Franklin, Minneapolis. Join the Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing (MICAH) as they continue to investigate the impact of racism on our region, our communities and ourselves. Information on transit, housing and the political environment will be discussed. Please RSVP to Jodi Nelson at 612-871-8980 x102 or jodi@micah.org. For more information visit www.micah.org . January 31 & February 7 Affordable housing on The Mary Hanson Show Viewers in the 7-county area can tune in at 9 p.m. to Channel 6, the Metro Cable Network (MCN), January 31 and February 7 to learn more about affordable housing in our community. Part I aired January 24. Congregations Building Community (CBC), a coalition of 15 downtown Minneapolis congregations, partnered with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity to address this problem. They will be featured on the show as well as Stephen Seidel, Director of Urban Programs, Habitat for Humanity International and HousingMinnesota Steering Committee Chair. * January 31: Affordable Housing, Part II -- Guests are Stephen Seidel, Director of Urban Programs, Habitat for Humanity International; and Marion Etzwiler, Co-chair, CBC. * February 7: Affordable Housing, Part III -- Guests are Reverend Al Gallmon, Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church; Don Samuels, Minneapolis City Councilman, Ward 3; and Douglas Mitchell, Associate Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church. The series will also be aired 8 p.m. on Channel 17, Minneapolis (MTN), and 6:30 p.m. on Channel 15, St. Paul (SPNN), February 2 and 9. February 8 St. Paul Housing Campaign Community Meeting, 7-9pm, Hallie Q. Brown/MLK Center, 270 North Kent Street, St. Paul. Join the St. Paul Housing campaign to learn about current St. Paul housing needs and the future of Housing 5000. The panel of speakers, including a housing advocate from the St. Paul Housing Campaign, Susan Kimberly, Director of the Department of Planning and Economic Development, and Kathy Lantry, Chair of the St. Paul City Council, will share their perspectives on housing in 2005. The St. Paul Housing Campaign members are deeply concerned about the need for adequate housing for people of all income levels in St. Paul. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Alyse Erman at alyse@jewishcommunityaction.org. March 10 Lobby Day at the State Capitol 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., State Capitol. Our annual Rally and Lobby Day at the State Capitol is your chance to meet individually with your representatives, and to join together collectively in the rotunda to tell Minnesota that you support Homes for All! Please register online at http://www.housingminnesota.org/lobbyday . For more information contact Tom Goldstein at (651) 649-1710 ext. 106 or tgoldstein@mhponline.org. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Looking for something from the last Bulletin? Archived issues are available online at: http://www.mhponline.org/Bulletin/Bulletin.htm For more information on affordable housing, the content of this document, or if you have news or events to include in future issues, contact Joanna Dornfeld at (651) 649-1710 ext. 108, email jdornfeld@mhponline.org or see HousingMinnesota's website at www.housingminnesota.org . -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mapnp.Geeks.ORG/pipermail/mhp-bulletin/attachments/20050127/e056f5a2/attachment.html