Protecting Mainers’ Right to Housing
Most of us believe that everyone deserves a stable, affordable place to call home. But we all know we are far from that. From Fort Kent to Lubec to Kittery, Maine is in a housing crisis. Increasingly, we’re seeing rich corporate investors buying people’s homes, hiking up rents and putting families on the street – putting their huge profits ahead of ordinary people. Housing costs have skyrocketed whether you’re renting or buying. And more and more people have no place to go, with the number of people in shelters, unsheltered, and in transitional housing growing, and more people staying longer in emergency shelters. Maine is making strides toward building more housing that’s accessible to people with low, moderate and high incomes. In the meantime, we must ensure that people who rent have the protections that will make it possible for them to stay in their homes and communities. That’s what Housing Justice Maine’s priority session bills are designed to do.
Most of us believe that everyone deserves a stable, affordable place to call home. But we all know we are far from that. From Fort Kent to Lubec to Kittery, Maine is in a housing crisis. Increasingly, we’re seeing rich corporate investors buying people’s homes, hiking up rents and putting families on the street – putting their huge profits ahead of ordinary people. Housing costs have skyrocketed whether you’re renting or buying. And more and more people have no place to go, with the number of people in shelters, unsheltered, and in transitional housing growing, and more people staying longer in emergency shelters. Maine is making strides toward building more housing that’s accessible to people with low, moderate and high incomes. In the meantime, we must ensure that people who rent have the protections that will make it possible for them to stay in their homes and communities. That’s what Housing Justice Maine’s priority session bills are designed to do.
Progress Report on the First Special Session of the 132nd Legislature
Housing Justice Maine advocated for many important housing bills, and were successful in seeing two of our top three priorities passed: LD 1723 which regulates rents at manufactured housing communities, and LD 698 which provides increased funding for homeless shelters.
Our third top priority, LD 1522, the expansion of the Eviction Prevention Program, passed the legislature but did not receive funding through Appropriations due to limited revenue forecasting. This bill was carried over and could be considered for funding in the next special session.
An important victory for funding affordable housing was the inclusion of LD 1082 in the budget to increase the tax rate on the portion of house sales over $1 million, which will lead to more funding for the state’s HOME program that funds affordable housing construction. This is an important step towards creating long term funding streams for affordable housing.
We were also successful in seeing that no cuts were made to General Assistance, nor were targeted restrictions imposed on the use of General Assistance to pay for housing, which is an important backstop when other housing assistance programs fail to cover many income-eligible households. General Assistance is critical to reducing homelessness and preventing evictions. This legislature actually increased overall funding for General Assistance.
Additional enacted bills LD 970 and LD 1829 will reduce barriers to developing new affordable housing. LD 554 will incentivize the sale of manufactured housing communities and apartment buildings to resident-owned housing cooperatives. LD 731 was enacted and will prevent municipalities from prohibiting the creation of homeless shelters.
LD 847, which will prohibit housing discrimination against low-income people who use vouchers to pay rent, was carried over to the next special session.
Overall, this legislature has made historic investments in affordable housing, and has truly begun to recognize tenant rights in the policy debates around housing. The housing crisis is far from over, but the issue continues to grow in the attention it receives from our elected representatives, and Housing Justice Maine is very encouraged by this progress.
Housing Justice Maine advocated for many important housing bills, and were successful in seeing two of our top three priorities passed: LD 1723 which regulates rents at manufactured housing communities, and LD 698 which provides increased funding for homeless shelters.
Our third top priority, LD 1522, the expansion of the Eviction Prevention Program, passed the legislature but did not receive funding through Appropriations due to limited revenue forecasting. This bill was carried over and could be considered for funding in the next special session.
An important victory for funding affordable housing was the inclusion of LD 1082 in the budget to increase the tax rate on the portion of house sales over $1 million, which will lead to more funding for the state’s HOME program that funds affordable housing construction. This is an important step towards creating long term funding streams for affordable housing.
We were also successful in seeing that no cuts were made to General Assistance, nor were targeted restrictions imposed on the use of General Assistance to pay for housing, which is an important backstop when other housing assistance programs fail to cover many income-eligible households. General Assistance is critical to reducing homelessness and preventing evictions. This legislature actually increased overall funding for General Assistance.
Additional enacted bills LD 970 and LD 1829 will reduce barriers to developing new affordable housing. LD 554 will incentivize the sale of manufactured housing communities and apartment buildings to resident-owned housing cooperatives. LD 731 was enacted and will prevent municipalities from prohibiting the creation of homeless shelters.
LD 847, which will prohibit housing discrimination against low-income people who use vouchers to pay rent, was carried over to the next special session.
Overall, this legislature has made historic investments in affordable housing, and has truly begun to recognize tenant rights in the policy debates around housing. The housing crisis is far from over, but the issue continues to grow in the attention it receives from our elected representatives, and Housing Justice Maine is very encouraged by this progress.
