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Pennsylvania State Senate
05/10/2024 05:17 PM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20230&cosponId=40217
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: March 17, 2023 10:40 AM
From: Senator Vincent J. Hughes and Sen. Nikil Saval
To: All Senate members
Subject: Public Database of Affordable Housing
 
In the near future we plan to introduce legislation that will create a publicly accessible database of affordable housing projects in the Commonwealth.
 
The landscape of affordable housing in Pennsylvania is approaching a drastic turning point, as federal tax credits issued in the 1980s are expiring in the next few years. The creation of the Commonwealth’s own tax credit program for low income housing will help to weather this shift. But in the meantime, policymakers, advocates, and the public will need better visibility into the state’s existing affordable housing projects. A number of states, including California, Massachusetts, and New York, have already created resources to track expiring affordability restrictions and empower preservation initiatives at the state and local level.
 
To that end, our bill, which is modeled on legislation out of New York, will require the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA), in collaboration with local housing agencies, to create a publicly accessible database of all publicly financed properties in the Commonwealth. The database will include information concerning the location of the property, the name of the owner, the anticipated termination date for affordability restrictions, and whether the affordability program or programs affecting the property can be extended. In addition, PHFA will be required to deliver annual reports to the Governor and the General Assembly regarding the number of properties expiring in the succeeding two years.
 
Pennsylvania has a variety of tools to help preserve and expand the affordable housing stock within the Commonwealth. But before we can use these tools at their full capacity, we need to collect and maintain the right information. Please join us in sponsoring this crucial first step.


Introduced as SB616