• The proposed biennial budget, LD 258, includes $30 million for producing affordable housing with $15 million for the Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program and $15 million for the Low Income Tax Credit program. The public budget hearings for this housing portion will be held on Thursday, February 9th, at 1:00p. Sign up to testify or submit written testimony in support. MAHC testimony here. See talking points here.
• The new Joint Select Committee on Housing has started meeting and is receiving briefings from housing providers and advocates. MAHC will present to them this Friday, 2/10, at 9 am. The committee meets on Tuesday afternoons at 1 pm and Friday mornings at 9 am. You can listen to meetings here.
• Background information and talking points to consider as you advocate for housing in Maine - click here. Core message: Maine is in a housing crisis. The number one issue is the lack of supply of affordable housing. Maine needs to invest in increasing the supply of affordable housing to meet the current overwhelming demand. All people in Maine deserve a home. 
• Key bills MAHC is supporting that we ask you advocate for are as follows. We will share bill language and LD numbers as they are released:
  • Housing bond - LR 358 - Sen. Daughtry
  • Land Use -  LR 1001 - Rep. Malon
  • ADU Development - LR 759 - Sen. Pouliot
  • Abandoned Property - LD144 - Rep. Sachs. See bill language here. See MAHC's testimony delivered to the Taxation Committee on February 7th here. Work session coming up on LD 144 with the Taxation Committee on Thursday, February 16.

• $200 million general fund allocation for affordable housing: LD 226 - Rep. Millett, Sen. Jackson. Read more.
• Early draft list of housing related LRs we pulled together here.
• You can sign up to receive notices of meetings and opportunities to testify for the Joint Select Committee on Housing  here, or the permanent Labor and Housing Committee page is also updated with this information. Feel free to reach out to members to share our priorities to address housing, and thank them for their service on these committees. MAHC will share specific asks and talking points to reach out to them over the coming weeks and months as the legislative session moves forward.

Workshops for Municipalities, Community Groups, and Developer/Builders

Six "how to" in-person and virtual Genesis Fund workshops in different rural regions of the state are part of our new project with MaineHousing to help developers and community partners put together affordable housing projects. The first one, serving towns from Ellsworth to Machias, attracted nearly 40 attendees.

These rural-focused workshops explain the project development process, various steps to present a project for approvals and financing, and how to assemble a project team. They're geared to municipalities working to attract projects to their communities, community groups interested in supporting the development of a housing project, and developer/builders who have some ideas and capacity but have never worked with MaineHousing or on affordable housing.

Following Bangor (2/3), the next five workshops are:

York: 1:00-2:30 p.m. on Monday, February 13, York Housing Authority at 4 Pine Grove Lane (off Long Sands Road)
Norway: 1:00-2:30 p.m. on Friday, February 17 Center for Center for an Ecology Based Economy, 447 Main Street
Skowhegan: 1:00-2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 28, Skowhegan Center for Entrepreneurship, 181 Water Street
Presque Isle: 1:00-2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 16, Sargent Family Conference Room in Presque Isle City Hall, 12 Second Street
Waldoboro: 1:00-2:30 p.m. on Weds. March 22, Waldoboro Town Office - Public Safety building, 1600 Atlantic Highway (US Rt. 1)

In addition to in-person, sessions will be available for virtual participation on each day of presentation - please contact John Egan at the Genesis Fund by email or by phone at 207.844.2035 x13 FMI and/or for the link to access the video conference.