Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The MMA hosted a webinar on Oct. 15 that reviewed the federal 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act with the National League of Cities.
To kick off the webinar, MMA Legislative and Policy Counsel Ali DiMatteo said the ROAD to Housing Act, created to address a nationwide housing shortage, “explicitly prioritizes partnership over preemption.”
The ROAD to Housing Act aims to expand housing supply tools, modernize federal housing programs, unlock private investment, reduce barriers to development, and preserve local decision-making authority.
“It’s a collection of dozens of standalones statutes, standalone program proposals that have been knitted together,” said Mike Wallace, legislative director of housing, community and economic development at the NLC. “It’s really a package of many, many bills aimed at fixing discrete things in different parts of the housing market — and hopefully as a whole really spur development in a way that brings down costs.”
The new tools and programs that municipalities can use include:
• Regional Housing Planning Grants
• Innovation Funds
• Pattern Book Home Grants
• The RESIDE Act
• The Whole-Home Repair Program
• Technical Assistance Resources
Wallace encouraged attendees to plan and prepare now, as many of these competitive provisions will roll out over the next 12 to 24 months.
“I think [communities] that can show that they’ve made some progress and taken steps to maximize the usefulness of these dollars will be at the head of the line when it comes time to applying for these different grants,” Wallace said.
DiMatteo moderated 30 minutes of questions and answers, addressing inquiries regarding the timeline of these programs, how municipalities can access the federal grants and funds directly, and opportunity zones.