You asked for the legislative history of bills to help alleviate the homelessness problem in Connecticut during the last few sessions. In particular, you asked about a bill to appropriate approximately $ 2 million for supportive housing units.

SUMMARY

We performed an electronic search for the words “homeless” and “homelessness” in bills and acts from 2003 to 2005. The searches produced 151 hits. Many of those 151 hits were slightly different versions of the same bill in each respective session or only mentioned “homelessness” without addressing it. After weeding out the duplicate and irrelevant bills, 52 bills between 2003 and 2005 addressed the homeless problem in varying degrees (e. g. , as a line item in budget bills to bills with programs specifically combating homelessness).

Of the 52 bills, 42 died and 10 became law.

We also provide (1) legislative histories of two 2005 bills, which died, that slotted $ 2 million for supportive housing and (2) information about PA 05-280, which creates up to 500 additional supportive housing units funded through mortgages, tax credits, and grants.

BILLS ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS BETWEEN 2003 AND 2005

Table 1 lists the 10 bills (now laws) that address homelessness, with a brief explanation of how they address the homelessness problem.

Table 1: Public Acts between 2003 and 2005 that Address Homelessness

BILLS TO FUND SUPPORTIVE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

In 2005, two bills called for $ 2 million to build supportive housing units. The first, sSB 758, An Act Providing Additional Funding to Municipalities that Provide Housing and Emergency Shelter Services, appropriated $ 2 million in FY 06 from the General Fund to the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to provide additional funding to municipalities that fund housing initiatives, including emergency homeless shelters. The Housing and Planning and Development committees voted respectively on March 10 and March 28, 2005, for a favorable change of reference to the Appropriations Committee, where the bill died.

The second bill, SB 491, An Act Authorizing Bonds of the State for Development of Additional Supportive Housing Dwelling Units, was combined by the Housing Committee on February 7, 2005, with Proposed Bill 757, An Act Concerning Supportive Housing, which provided funds for permanent supportive housing by funding 1,000 units of supportive housing. The combined SB 491 called for $ 2 million in General Obligation bond funds to DECD to develop 1,000 permanent supportive housing units as part of the Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative Program. On March 10, 2005, the Housing Committee voted favorably for a change of reference to the Planning and Development Committee, which voted favorably on March 28 for a change of reference to the Judiciary Committee. Judiciary favorably reported the bill to the floor. The bill died in Finance, Revenue and Bonding after a referral from the floor.

PA 05-280

PA 05-280, An Act Concerning Social Services and Public Health Budget Implementation Provisions, requires the DMHAS commissioner to provide for up to 500 additional units of affordable, supportive housing for people with mental illness. These units are the second, “Next Steps,” phase of the Supportive Housing Initiative. The first phase, the Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative, was instituted in 2001 to create 650 units.

Like the pilot initiative, the Next Steps Initiative is funded through mortgages, tax credits, and grants from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) and the DECD; DSS rent subsidies; and grants from various state agencies for support services. The act permits the state to pay debt service on tax-exempt bonds CHFA issues for the program.

Eligible Individuals and Housing

Under the act, Next Steps housing is for:

1. people or families affected by psychiatric disabilities, chemical dependency, or both who are homeless or at risk of homelessness (including people living on the streets, in shelters, or in unsafe, abusive, or overcrowded environments; paying more than 50% of their income for rent; leaving homeless programs or transitional housing with no permanent housing; or needing support services to maintain permanent housing);

2. families who are eligible for Temporary Family Assistance (a DSS Program);

3. 18- to 23-year olds who are homeless or at risk of homelessness because they are transitioning out of foster care or other residential programs; and

4. community-supervised offenders with serious mental health needs who are under Judicial Branch or Correction Department jurisdiction.

All of the units developed under the act must be permanent and can house individuals and families with or without special needs.

Financing—Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

The act requires the DMHAS commissioner and Office of Policy and Management (OPM) secretary to enter into a MOU with Department of Children and Families (DCF), DSS, DECD, and CHFA by October 1, 2005. That memorandum must provide for:

1. submission of a collaborative plan and timetables for creating up to 500 supported units;

2. an option for DSS to provide subsidies, including project-based rent subsidies during the term of any mortgage;

3. CHFA and DECD to offer viable financing through grants, mortgages, or tax credits, including capitalized operating reserves (PA 05-3, June Special Session (JSS) makes their financing optional);

4. the treasurer and OPM secretary’s ability to enter into an agreement, after January 1, 2006, to pay debt service on any tax-exempt bonds CHFA issues for the units;

5. DMHAS, DSS, and DCF to provide annual grants for supportive services during the term of any mortgage; and

6. a plan for private and federal predevelopment financing and for grants and loans from nonstate sources generated by federal and state tax credits and federal project-based rent subsidies.

(PA 05-3, JSS permits the parties to the MOU to include other provisions they find necessary and appropriate. )

The act requires CHFA, by January 1, 2006, to issue a request for proposals for participation in the initiative. (PA 05-3, JSS requires CHFA to give priority to applicants DCF and DMHAS deem qualified to provide services. ) It also requires CHFA to review and underwrite projects developed under both the pilot and Next Steps initiatives.

Debt Service Agreement

The act permits the treasurer and OPM secretary, on behalf of the state, to contract with CHFA to pay principal and interest and reasonable operating and replacement reserves on CHFA mortgages issued under both phases of the Supportive Housing Initiative. The contract must contain provisions they find (1) needed to assure the initiative is put into effect, (2) appropriate for repaying the state when CHFA receives mortgage payments from federal or other sources, and (3) in the state’s best interests by allowing direct payment to the bond trustee or paying agent. (PA 05-3, JSS broadens the type of assistance OPM and the treasurer can provide, requires the state to pay up to $ 70 million for repair and replacement and bond issuance costs, and excludes the bonds for which the state provides assistance from the state’s debt limit. )

The act makes any contract provision requiring the state to pay an amount equal to the annual debt service a state contract with bondholders, appropriates all amounts needed to pay promptly, and requires the treasurer to make payments when due. It allows CHFA to pledge the state’s payment as security for the bonds. And it allows CHFA to issue refunding bonds at any time.

DSS Rent Certificates

The act allows the DSS commissioner to set aside some rent assistance certificates for tenant- and project-based supportive housing units. Tenant-based certificates go to individuals who secure private housing; project-based certificates go to property owners who participate in government sponsored housing development programs. (PA 05-3, JSS allows project-based subsidies to fund reasonable repair and replacement reserves. ) The act requires, to the extent practicable, that the tenant’s share of rent under a certificate for supportive housing be calculated based on federal Housing Choice Voucher Program regulations. These call for a tenant to pay 30% of the family’s adjusted monthly income for a unit that rents for up to the fair market price set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Reporting

The act adds DCF and DSS to the list of agencies (DMHAS, DECD, CHFA) that must submit an interim status report to various legislative committees on the Supportive Housing Initiative and extends the deadline for this report to January 1, 2006. It also extends the deadline for the final report by one year to January 1, 2007.

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