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Local Housing Trust Funds Action

Your action is needed now! Lawmakers released most omnibus supplemental spending and policy bills last week. Included in the House Housing Finance and Policy bill is an additional $7 million for Local Housing Trust Funds (LHTFs). As a reminder, MHP secured $1M in matching funds last year, an amount we know will be oversubscribed.  

In order to ensure every community gets the full match, we need lawmakers to support $7 million for LHTF match funds! Please take a moment this week to make calls to Chairs Hausman and Draheim as well as Rep Howard and Senator Duckworth. The Chairs will ultimately decide what provisions get negotiated in the compromise Housing Finance and Policy bill. Howard and Duckworth, who are the bills’ chief authors, need your calls to keep championing this important legislation. Please see the sample script below. If you contact lawmakers, please email libby.murphy@mhponline.org with their feedback. 

$1M for LHTF state match, approved in the 2021 legislative session – RFP update: MHFA is in the process of developing a survey that it will send out soon. This survey will help influence the RFP for LHTF state match funds that they hope to release early this summer. MHFA has delayed communicating program guidance as it waits to see if lawmakers will invest additional resources into this important program as part of the 2022 legislative session.  

Legislators contact information: 

Rep. Alice Hausman, Chair of House Housing Finance and Policy 

Sen. Rich Draheim, Chair of Senate Housing Finance and Policy 

Rep. Michael Howard, Vice-Chair of House Housing Finance and Policy 

Sen. Zach Duckworth, Vice-Chair of Senate Housing Finance and Policy 

Sample Script:  

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Dear lawmaker,  

Please include $7M for Local Housing Trust Fund state matching funds in the final House Finance and Policy Omnibus Bill.  SF1803/HF528, which is currently included in the House Housing Omnibus Bill,  provides flexible funds to local jurisdictions that establish and fund local housing trust funds. These funds can be used to meetlocal community housing priorities . Examples include building single-family homes, providing downpayment assistance, building workforce housing, creating more affordable rental units, and providing rental assistance. In the past several years, more and more communities have established or are in the process of establishing these funds. [insert community story].  

Thank you to Representative Howard and Senator Duckworth for leadership on this bill and Chair Hausman and Chair Draheim for support as co-authors.  

Thank you, 

[your name, org, address, and best contact] 

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