Campaign for a Virginia Housing Trust Fund
Update 1/2012
At this time, we continue to monitor the Virginia Housing Trust Fund bills introduced by Delegate Morrissey, Delegate Lopez, and Delegate Herring and are working to ensure the resulting bill is akin to the initial draft supported by the Campaign for a Virginia Housing Trust Fund. Specifically, requests for amendments to the existing bills be amended to reflect that the funding for the VHTF come from 50% of the recordation tax collections that exceed the official budget. Further, VCEH is advocating that the grant portion of funding for homeless households be increased to 30% flexible funding.
Virginia Housing Trust Fund FAQ Sheet
Update: 12/2011
As an organizational member of the Campaign for a Virginia Housing Trust Fund (VHTF), VCEH has been organizing a number of successful advocacy strategies and has continued to advocate that 20 percent of funding be targeted to families and individuals experiencing homelessness.
VCEH organized an effort to obtain letters of support to be presented to Governor McDonnell from community leaders from across the state. City mayors from Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Martinsville, Roanoke, Newport News and Danville sent letters of support as did local business leaders, housing development corporations, housing and service providers, and the Virginia Association of Community Service Boards (VACSB). VCEH would like to express our thanks to those VCEH members and/or partners who worked so hard to obtain letters of support from their community leaders including: Mary Aab, George Braunstein, Andy Friedman, Courtney Gardner, Jon Morris, Paula Prince, and Keisha Whitley.
The initial objective for the VHTF was that it be included in the Governor’s budget. However, we understand from conversations with Administration officials that the VHTF is not likely to be included in the Governor’s budget, but that the Governor continues to support the concept of a Virginia Housing Trust Fund as one strategy to achieve the state plan’s goal to reduce homelessness by 15 percent by 2013.
Currently, members of the campaign for a Virginia Housing Trust Fund along with local and state partners are working hard to obtain legislative champions in the House and Senate to propose a VHTF bill or budget amendment. Already, Delegate Chris Jones, Delegate Chris Peace, and Delegate Scott Lingamfelter have expressed their support and it is expected that additional support will come forward in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned for action alerts and ways that you can help to ensure that a Virginia Housing Trust Fund becomes a reality!
VCEH's Virginia Housing Trust Fund Brief
Campaign for a Virginia Housing Trust Fund
A Virginia Housing Trust Fund will help us reduce homelessness by 15 percent by 2013 - a goal of Governor Bob McDonnell. The McDonnell Administration has set a goal of reducing homelessness by 15 percent by 2013. To meet this goal, we must house over 1,400 households permanently. Communities across the Commonwealth are jumping at the chance to meet this goal but we must have the resources to create affordable housing. A Virginia Housing Trust Fund will fill this gap.
The Campaign for a Virginia Housing Trust Fund supports the creation of a Virginia Housing Trust Fund with 20 percent of funding dedicated to serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness. This funding would fund a flexible array of new construction, rehab, rental assistance, and supportive services designed to assist families and individuals in achieving housing stability. This funding is critical to ensuring that homeless households are served and afforded the opportunity for affordable housing.
The Virginia Housing Trust Fund would offer broad-reaching and flexible solutions to the varied housing challenges that Virginians are now facing. The Trust Fund would support home ownership, the development of affordable rental options, housing designed to meet the needs of seniors and persons with disabilities, and housing solutions to reduce homelessness. The Trust Fund would provide low-interest loans, matching funds for local programs, and incentives for developers to create reasonably priced housing and mixed-income communities.
Currently, there are 40 state housing trust funds in the United States including North Carolina, Maryland, and West Virginia. Local and state housing trust funds have been in existence since the late 1970s, providing on-going dedicated sources of public funding to support the preservation and production of affordable housing. These funds are universally recognized as the most flexible money available to support critical housing needs.
A Virginia Housing Trust Fund will inject $1.0 billion into the economy of the Commonwealth of Virginia between 2012 and 2022. Chmura Economics & Analytics found, in a recently released report, that the economic impact of a Virginia Housing Trust Fund is greater than direct spending. One-time construction activities from the Virginia Housing Trust Fund can inject $1.0 billion into the economy of the Commonwealth of Virginia between 2012 and 2022. When all construction projects are completed, the ongoing economic impact will be $331.0 million per year, and will support 1,778 jobs in the state.
Be sure join us on January 12th for Housing Advocacy Day at the General Assembly and help us advocate to make this a reality!
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Richmond Times Dispatch on the Economic Impact of a Virginia Housing Trust Fund
Connie Chamberlin, President and CEO of Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia (HOME) writes an op-ed in the September 11, 2011 edition of the Richmond Times Dispatch on the Governor's housing policy and the need for a state housing trust fund
On September 8, 2011, the Campaign for a Virginia Housing Trust Fund -- of which VCEH is a Steering Committee member -- released a report on the economic impact of a housing trust fund on Virginia's economy. Click here for the Richmond Times Dispatch coverage.
