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Page 34 — Multifamily Properties Quarterly — May 2022 www.crej.com Affordable Housing S pring is upon us, and the Legislature is in high gear, working to enact legisla- tion that will affect every Coloradan. This year, the Colorado General Assembly will make unprecedented investments in affordable housing statewide. In 2021, the Legislature set aside $500 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to address the affordable housing crisis in the state. In addition to setting aside the funds, the Legislature created a special task force to make rec- ommendations to the full General Assembly on how best to use those funds. Thus, the Affordable Housing Transformational Task Force and its associated subpanel of subject mat- ter experts were formed. Working via consensus, the task force’s subpanel made a total of 11 funding and six policy recommen- dations to be acted upon in 2022. Those funding recommendations were in large part adopted in a con- solidated form by the task force and brought before the General Assem- bly. In total, the task force made five funding and six longer-term policy recommendations to the General Assembly to be acted upon in the 2022 legislative session and beyond. Those funding recommendations are as follows: • The creation of a $150 million revolving loan fund (Senate Bill 22-159) that will provide access to low-interest and below-market-rate loans to organizations and local governments aim- ing to build or preserve affordable housing in their communities. • The creation of a $150 million grants fund (House Bill 22-1304) for nonprofits and local governments to build or pre- serve affordable housing in their communities. • The creation of the Innovative Housing Incentive Program (HB22- 1282) within the Office of Economic Development to incentivize innova- tive building solutions and possibly bring a manufactured home factory to the state. • The creation of a $35 million revolving loan and grant program (SB22-160) to provide assistance and financing to mobile home owners seeking to organize and purchase their mobile home parks. • An expansion of CHFA’s Middle Income Access Program (SB22-146) with $25 million. Beyond the funding recommen- dations, an effort to expand and extend the state affordable housing tax credit is underway. HB22-1051 would extend the credit to 2034 and expand it from $10 million to $15 million. This bill is also a direct response to the recommendations of the Affordable Housing Transfor- mational Task Force. All these bills currently are work- ing their way through the legislative process and are being shaped by a number of interest groups eager to make the programs more conducive for their areas of work and geo- graphic location. Legislators need to hear from organizations and individuals across the housing industry about their unique experiences develop- ing and managing affordable hous- ing. There are many ways to get involved in the process, and Hous- ing Colorado stands ready to be the voice of the affordable housing industry on these important mat- ters. For more information about the bills referenced above, you can check out Housing Colorado’s web- site, www.housingcolorado.org/ currentlegislation, or go to the Le g- islature’s home page at www.leg. colorado.gov. There you can search bills, find your legislators, listen to hearings, and much more. Your sup- port, voices and energy will help solve the problem faced by all of us. Please let me know you would like to become part of Housing Colo- rado’s advocacy work by sending an email to me at brian@housingcolo- rado.org . s CO Legislature makes unprecedented investments T he Housing Partnership Net- work is a network of more than 100 top-performing, high-capacity nonprofit housing developers, owners, financial institutions and public housing authorities throughout the United States. As leaders in the field, we have built a network comprised of a group of innova- tive social enterprises that deliver powerful results for the people and communities we serve. The Housing Partnership Network leverages the collective talent, market power and business innovation of its mem- bers to achieve more together than could be achieved by acting alone. Our two members headquartered in Colorado are Mercy Housing and Rocky Mountain Communities, while other members also do busi- ness in Colorado. Guiding our approach is a singular belief that developing vibrant com- munities and growing opportunities begin at home. Stable, affordable homes deliver immediate and posi- tive benefits to people and commu- nities. But, even more importantly, they are the essential foundation for families and children to achieve a decent education and pursue healthy and prosperous lives. HPN members are regionally focused developers, lenders and community builders, closely con- nected to the neighborhoods and people they serve. As the best-in- class operators in the field, mem- bers are really good at what they do. They’ve established dynamic part- nerships and networks with public, private and community institutions to carry out their work. HPN’s catalytic value is at the broader market and systems level where impact can be most effectively achieved together. HPN focuses on three key strate- gies to help mem- bers become more efficient, more sustainable and better positioned to achieve scaled social impact: peer exchange, policy and business inno- vation. n Peer exchange: Accelerating best practices and generating ideas through leadership and community of practice peer exchanges. The Housing Partnership Network’s strong suit comes not just from the strength of the membership, but from our willingness to collaborate with each other. Peer exchange is more than simply sharing best practices or new ideas across the network – it is the catalyst and fuel for the creation of each HPN social enterprise and the cornerstone of HPN’s four levels of impact. n Policy: Influencing policymak- ers with the power of the combined experience and success of members. Effective, responsive public policy is a requirement for success in devel- oping stable homes and vibrant communities. As leading nonprofit affordable housing organizations, HPN members collaborate to influ- ence federal policy to support our entrepreneurial approach to creat- ing solutions. n Business innovation: Filling the gaps in the affordable housing and community development ecosystem through market-facing enterprises that deliver new products, raise capi- tal and save – and make – members money. Peer exchange generates a continuous source of ideas for busi- ness innovation from the customers and practitioners who utilize them. Promising ideas that demonstrate potential for systems impact are put through Housing Partnership Network’s Innovation Lab to deter- mine if there is sufficient mission and member value, business fea- sibility and investment capability. Only ventures that achieve all three will be pursued as a new social enterprise. HPN catalyzes innovative, mar- ket-level change in order to scale community impact and build more stable homes in America. The housing market is a big place, and making a positive impact requires focus. We approach the housing industry through our unique lens as 100 of the leading regional nonprofit affordable hous- ing developers. Together, we identify gaps, define opportunities and cre- ate solutions. As individual organizations, HPN members change communities and people’s lives for the better. As a network, we change the larger mar- ket systems and value chains in which we operate to be more effi- cient, more sustainable and better positioned to achieve scaled impact. HPN social enterprises have four dimensions or levels of impact. Although each venture we pursue may affect them in varying degrees, our enterprises’ ability to touch all four levels gives them their catalytic and exponential impact. • Changing market systems. For example, we created the Housing Partnership Equity Trust to provide nonprofits with access to capital to acquire and hold as affordable, Nat- urally Occurring Affordable Housing. • Strengthening members. Together with our members, we created the Housing Partnership Insurance Exchange, or HPIEx, an innovative captive owned jointly by members and operated under the leadership of HPN. We focus on transparency, coverage and service quality, premi- um consistency and return on equi- ty. Today, it insures nearly 100,000 units across the country, partners with Colorado’s own IMA, and offers workers’ compensation coverage. • Improving communities. HPN has helped found and create new non- profits in the image of its members to fill the capacity and resource gaps in two communities respond- ing to both man-made and environ- mental disasters: Develop Detroit in Detroit, and the Gulf Coast Housing Partnership, headquartered in New Orleans and serving the entire Gulf Coast. • Growing opportunity. Since 2012, over 1.4 million homebuyers have participated in Framework’s online homebuyer education platform to enable them to purchase their first home and be more successful homeowners. Framework is a joint venture between HPN and a mem- ber. To learn more about the Housing Partnership Network, please visit our website: https://housingpartner- ship.net/ s Stable housing delivers immediate benefits to all Brian Rossbert Executive director, Housing Colorado Chuck Wehrwein Chief operating officer/executive vice president, The Housing Partnership Network Colorado state Capitol Building