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ACTION ALERT: Defend Affordable Housing in Ohio

Tags: Advocacy
ACTION ALERT: Defend Affordable Housing in Ohio

The Sisters of Charity Health System stands with the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO) and multiple other organizations in Ohio in opposition to the Ohio Senate removing several positive housing proposals in the state budget from Gov. DeWine and the Ohio House, and adding other provisions that will stifle development of affordable housing.

Next week the Senate will make additional changes when they release the “omnibus amendment” before passing the budget. Then the two chambers will reconcile their differences in conference committee before sending the bill to Gov. DeWine, who can line-item veto provisions he doesn’t like. There are several ideas in the Senate’s budget bill that will have a negative impact, but one of the most devastating changes is an 81% cut to Healthy Beginnings at Home.

Reach out to your legislators today
Let them know the Senate’s cut to Healthy Beginnings jeopardizes the effort to demonstrate how housing interventions can save babies’ lives and reduce Medicaid spending:

Here are just a few of the housing provisions in the new Senate bill that will negatively impact affordable housing:

  • Cuts Funding for Healthy Beginnings at Home from $16 million to $3 million (pg. 103).
  • Removes the House’s proposed $500 million state housing tax credit program (pg. 728-729).
  • Replaces the Ohio Housing Finance Agency with the Governor’s Office of Housing Transformation under ODOD; transfers authority to issue housing bonds to the State Treasurer; requires approval from the Tax Credit Authority to finance multifamily housing (pg. 151).

Abolishing the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA)
Our health system signed on to a letter with COHHIO and other organizations opposing the replacement of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) with the Governor’s Office of Housing Transformation within the Ohio Department of Development. It is important to defend OHFA’s independence, reduce bureaucracy and politicization in the development process, and incentivize affordable housing production through a new state housing tax credit program.

As proposed, the Senate budget would remove OHFA’s ability to issue bonds, audit and monitor projects, and direct financing programs to achieve its mission of maximizing affordable housing production in the State, and require approval from the Tax Credit Authority to finance multifamily housing projects.

 

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