Department of Commerce (Commerce), with advice and input from the Affordable Housing Advisory Board, administers the Affordable Housing Program to develop and preserve affordable housing and coordinates public and private resources targeted to meet the affordable housing needs of low-income households.  Commerce uses funds from the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and other legislative appropriations to provide grants and loans through a competitive application process to administer the program. Commerce must collaborate with public entities that finance affordable housing in conducting joint application reviews and coordinate funding decisions in a timely manner.

Activities eligible for assistance include:

• new construction, rehabilitation, or acquisition of low and very low-income housing units;
• preconstruction technical assistance, design and finance services and consultation, and administrative costs for eligible nonprofit community neighborhood bases organizations;
• administrative costs for housing assistance groups or other eligible organizations;
• shelters for the homeless;
• down payment or closing cost assistance for low-income first-time homebuyers;
• acquisition of housing units for the purpose of prevention as low-income housing;
• projects making housing more accessible to low-income households with members who have disabilities; and
• remodeling and improvements required to meet building codes, licensing, and other legal requirements related to property owned by an eligible organization which were transferred under the Real Estate Excise Tax by the parent of a child with developmental disabilities.

Commerce may also make competitive grant or loan awards to projects in need of major building improvements, preservation repairs, or system replacements in order to maintain the long-term viability of affordable housing.

Commerce must report on its website and on an annual bases for each funding cycle:

• the number of homeownership and multifamily rental projects funded;
• the percentage of funding allocated to homeownership and multifamily rental projects; and
• for both homeownership and multifamily rental projects, the total number of households being served at up to 80 percent of the area median income, up to 50 percent of the area median income, and up to 30 percent of the area median income.

Beginning December 1, 2023, and continuing every odd-numbered year, Commerce must provide the appropriate committees of the Legislature with a report of its final cost data for each project funded through the HTF.

Personally identifiable information or street addresses of occupants or prospective tenants of affordable housing obtained by Commerce during monitoring activities or contract administration are exempt from inspection and copying under the Public Records Act.

The purpose of the Affordable Housing Program is expanded to include developing and preserving affordable housing and coordinating public and private resources targeted to meet either the affordable housing or social housing needs, or both, of low-income and moderate-income households.  Social housing means housing on land owned in perpetuity by a public housing authority, a public development authority, the state, or other political subdivision, and available to households of any income level, including low-income and moderate-income households.

The desired outcome of the program is to create communities that are multigenerational, diverse, and have all the amenities of an equitable, livable community such as easy access to educational facilities, health care, shopping, small businesses and light manufacturing, common spaces for healthy outdoor activities, community gatherings, and lower needs for private automobile transportation options.

Commerce must collaborate with public entities that finance social housing in conducting joint application reviews and coordinate funding decisions in a timely manner.  Activities eligible for assistance are updated to include:

• new construction, rehabilitation, or acquisition of moderate-income housing units; and
• projects making affordable housing or social housing, or both, more accessible to low-income and moderate-income households with members who have disabilities.

Commerce may also make competitive grant or loan awards to projects in need of major building improvements, preservation repairs, or system replacements in order to maintain the long-term viability of social housing.

Personally identifiable information or street addresses of occupants or prospective tenants of social housing obtained by Commerce during monitoring activities or contract administration are exempt from inspection and copying under the Public Records Act.