Legislative Update

Highlights of HB 1363 CS

HB 1363 CS addresses the issue of workforce housing in Florida by creating the Community Workforce Housing Innovation Program (CWHIPP), and by providing financial and regulatory incentives for the provision of workforce housing.

The Community Workforce Housing Innovation Program (CWHIPP) will provide loans and incentives to affordable rental and home ownership projects that target:

• High-cost counties and high growth counties;
• Certain public-private partnerships;
• Workforce housing (up to 140% AMI);
• Essential service personnel; and
• Innovative projects.

The bill provides standards and guidelines for the program and for the involvement of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. Approved projects are eligible for certain incentives.

The bill provides for the Corporation to review and develop strategies for expanding workforce home ownership across the state.

The bill also provides support for the following:

• Extremely Low Income – Provides a new definition of “extremely low income”: residents with incomes below 30% of area median income. And provides a series of changes to existing state and local housing programs to incentivize the development of extremely low income housing.
• Surplus Lands – Provides for local governments to inventory and make available surplus lands for workforce housing.
• School Boards and Specified Special Districts Authorization – The bill authorizes school boards to provide housing and housing assistance to its teachers and other instructional personnel.
• Property Assessment – “The Manny Diaz Property Tax Relief Initiative” directs property appraisers to appraise workforce housing properties based upon rental income.
• Elderly Housing - Makes renovations of elderly housing more affordable by reducing match requirements.
• Disabled Veterans - Provides relief from paying certain license and permit fees on housing for disabled veterans.

HB 1363 gives us some of the most extensive funding mechanisms the state of Florida has ever seen.  HB 1363 appropriates:

• $50 million to the DCA from the U.S. Contributions Trust Fund for the Home Retrofit Hardening Program;
• $2 million in fixed capital outlay from the State Housing Trust Fund for the Disaster Recovery Assistance Program;
• $15 million from the Local Government Housing Trust Fund to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to provide funds to eligible entities for workforce housing recovery from the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes;
• $25 million from the State Housing Trust Fund to the Corporation for the Farmworker Housing Recovery and Special Assistance and Development Programs;
• $400,000 from the State Housing Trust Fund for technical and training assistance;
• $176.6 million from the State Housing Trust Fund for the Rental Recovery Loan Program;
• $82,904,000 from the Florida Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program Fund for workforce housing hurricane recovery;
• $50 million from the Local Government Housing Trust Fund to implement the Community Workforce Housing Innovation Pilot Program;
• $33 million from the Local Government Housing Trust Fund for housing for extremely low income persons.