General News

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) published his 2019-2020 proposed budget summary. In total, the Budget includes $7.7 billion across multiple departments and programs to address housing and homelessness throughout the state.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development announced $53.3 million in awards for the first round of the California Emergency Solutions and Housing Program (CESH). CESH is a state program providing funds for a variety of activities to assist people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) released its draft Multifamily Housing Program (MHP) Guidelines. Recent legislation authorized the issuance of $1.5 billion in bonds through the MHP for new construction, rehabilitation and preservation of veterans and affordable housing.

HUD announced Ginnie Mae’s executive vice president and chief operations officer Michael Bright will be stepping down on January 16 and has requested that his nomination for president of Ginne Mae be withdrawn. Maren Kasper, current executive vice president of Ginnie Mae, will serve as the acting president upon Bright’s departure. Bright has been hired […]

The King County Council in Washington state accepted a report from Regional Affordable Housing Task Force, which calls for building or preserving at least 44,000 affordable housing units by 2024, focusing on households earning up to 50 percent of the area median income. The report explains that to meet the current demand for affordable housing […]

Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) hired Seth Leonard of Winooski for the newly created position of Managing Director of Community Development. Leonard comes to VHFA from the USDA Office of Rural Development, where he served as Housing Program Director for Vermont and New Hampshire. Prior to that, Leonard worked at VHFA for four years as Homeownership Outreach Coordinator.

On December 28, Mike Kennealy was sworn in as the new Secretary of Housing and Economic Development. Kennealy replaces former Secretary Jay Ash, who departed to become CEO of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership. Kennealy previously served as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Economic Development in the Baker Administration. The Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development […]

The Multifamily Programs office of the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) sent an email providing several updates on its activities. THDA has yet to publish its 2019 Multifamily Tax-Exempt Bond Authority (MTBA) and Competitive Low Income Housing Tax Credit applications but wrote that they are under development and should be available soon.  

Minnesota Housing published guidance for the use of income averaging with Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties. Eligible properties include new LIHTC applications beginning with Round 2 of Minnesota Housing’s 2019 LIHTC Program and previously selected LIHTC projects that have not yet filed Form 8609 with the IRS.

Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD) announced a series of initiatives and legislation to expand the Maryland Opportunity Zone program. A total of $56.5 million would be dedicated to attracting new businesses and development and continuing to invest in Maryland’s workforce.

Mark Stivers left his post as executive director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) on Sunday, Jan. 6. Stivers was appointed by California State Treasurer John Chiang in 2015. In an email to TCAC stakeholders, Stivers wrote “I intend to remain in public service working on housing issues.”

A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Poverty & Race Research Action Council examines where families with children use housing vouchers in the 50 largest metropolitan areas. This report is the first metropolitan-level analysis to explore the concentration of families using vouchers across multiple neighborhood characteristics.