Expand Availability of Affordable Housing (Essay Sample)

House Bill 14-1017: Expand Availability of Affordable Housing
Student’s Name
Institution
Introduction
It is a joy of every man to live in a decent house filled with love, care, safety and all amenities that turn it into a home. The houses we live in contribute to a larger percent of where we spend our lives. In fact, half of our lives are spent in our homes. The houses provide a place where many decisions are made concerning the next move and direction a person makes in life. It is not a wonder that a decent house makes people yearn to have a better time with their loved ones, friends, and relatives. It provides a serene environment that shields the man from the hustle and bustle of breadwinning. Policies that support affordable housing are always welcomed from many members of every society. Therefore, the government has a central role in making sure that its citizens have access to better housing facilities that are affordable and of good quality. It creates bills, and laws that have an impact on the living standards of citizen.
In an effort to achieve this milestone, the State government of Colorado has created numerous bills engineered towards improving the livelihoods of its citizens. On 8th January 2014, a bill seeking to expand the availability of affordable housing, HB14-1017, was introduced. The bill seeks to expand its funding sources and also increase the amount the General Assembly of Colorado can fund towards enabling its citizens have affordable housing. This paper traces the history of this bill and presents a detailed account of the milestones made so far concerning the same. It provides an overview and legislative process of HB14-1017 and provides the impact it has on the general population of Colorado.
Overview
On 8th January 2014, Crisanta Duran and Jesse Ulibarri introduced HB14-1017 to the floor of the house as the primary sponsors of the House and Senate respectively. Duran and Ulibarri, both Democrats, created the bill that advance housing policies by encouraging and making the development and construction of houses affordable.
The Democrats combined their legislative efforts to formulate a law that reduces the obstacles to building affordable houses including funding, a move that gave birth to HB14-1017 (Colorado General Assembly, 2014). HB14-1017 is a bill that will turn into a law upon passing all the stages of a legislative process. The main agenda of the bill is to expand the availability of affordable housing. It also educates the State leaders about the housing needs of the members of their communities and facilitates opportunities for advocates to communicate with State legislators directly.
The bill is relevant to social work because it forms a platform for reinstating the state-based LIHTC program. LIHTC, Low Income Housing Tax Credit, was formed in 2011. Reviving the operations of this program will positively improve the livelihoods of Colorado residence in the form of creating jobs and offering employment, generating incomes and providing local and state revenue.
Legislative Process
There are many processes involved and committees that heard the HB14-1017 bill when it was in the legislature. It was introduced to the House on 8th January 2014 and assigned to the Local Government of Colorado. The joint and working committees were involved in the hearing of this bill. On 22nd January, the House Committee on Local Government heard the bill and referred it to Finance Committee for amendment. The Finance Committee referred the amendment to House Committee on Appropriations on 19th February 2014.
Eight days later, the Appropriations Committee presented the amended bill to the floor of the House. On 3rd March 2014, the second reading was conducted, and the bill passed with the new amendments. A day later, there were no more amendments when the bill was passed by the floor of the House on third reading. 7th March 2014 saw the bill introduced to the Senate and Assigned to the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee referred the bill to amendments to the Committee on Appropriations (Legispeak, 2015).
The amendments to the bill revolved around certain features, omissions and inclusions of clauses to the required standards. Some of them include the change of the fund name from Home Investment Trust Fund to the Housing Investment Trust Fund. Secondly, there was a need to expand the source of moneys that support the trust to include money from the General Assembly, grants, donations, gifts and bequests. There were also amendments to clarify the division authorized and mandated to solicit, expend, accept and disburse money collected for the trust fund. The amendment focused on both the private and public source of funds, making loans, offering guarantees and program administration. It was made clear that money collected in specific fiscal years do not revert to the general fund. Instead, for purposes of specified in the statute, the money is appropriated continuously to the division.
The third reading by the Senate passed the bill without further amendments and sent the bill back to the floor of the House on 22nd April 2014. In addition, there are actions planned in this year’s session of the legislature. The State Housing Board and Division of Housing will promulgate rules in pursuant to C.R.S 24-32-707 and 24-32-705. They will also repeal on 8 CCR 1302-9 concerning Housing Investment Fund and Short Term Loan as well as the administration of the Housing Investment Fund.
Mr. George Awuor, a political analyst, gave a testimony to the Senate Finance Committee on March 18, 2014. He expressed his views and opinion in support of the bill. Awuor represented his view and those on Bell Policy Center, a non-profit research, non-partisan policy organization. The center is an umbrella body consisting of over 30 organizations formed on progressive values that are dedicated to expanding opportunities for all Coloradans and meeting their affordable-housing needs.
The voting process indicated that the majority were in favor and support of the bill. The voting process conducted on the floor of the House showed 39 members supported the bill while 26 were against it. As a result, the motion was declared passed when Duran moved to the House to concur with Senate amendments. Later, when the bill was asked to proceed as it was on that same day, a roll call vote was conducted. Of the elected members, 37 were in support of the question while 28 were opposed (Openstates.org, 2014).
The fiscal Note of HB14-1017 revolved around the Summary of Legislation. It gave the changes made to the Housing Development Grant Fund and Home Investment Trust Fund under the Division of Housing (DOH). It allows the funds to be received from grants from private and public sources, grants, gifts, and donations. The bill removed certain requirements that were selective to the public on loan acquirement. All the funds used for redevelopment and development were given emphasis especially in supporting low to middle-income earners in obtaining affordable housing needs (Legispeak, 2015).
There are different ways that the costs to secure this bill are shared. Various avenues are used as provided and summarized in the Fiscal Note (Figure 1:1). The Fiscal Note gives a detailed summary of who is responsible for the administration and the fiscal year involved since the bill took effect on 29th May 2014. In addition, it highlights and underscores the mandate of the bill in increasing eligibility by removing previous restrictions. Some of the restrictions were made only to public nonprofit corporations, local housing authorities, and private nonprofit corporation.

Figure 1:1 Fiscal Note Summary
Impact and Opinion
HB14-1017 also seeks to repurpose the Home Investment Fund (HIF) of Colorado to create the first housing trust fund of the state. Currently, the HIFR is significantly underutilized and bears a very restrictive language enshrined in the fund’s statute. It is the purpose of this bill to expand the number of available sources, including grants, which support affordable housing in the State of Colorado.
The bill would make it possible...