Committee schedules administration presentation on land-use and housing; flags HUD rule changes affecting HRC

Chairman Holly used the committee’s concluding remarks to preview substantive sessions for the next day and to flag federal changes that could affect state housing work.

He said the committee will begin Jan. 21 at 9:15 a.m. with the Joint Fiscal Office (JFO) briefing on the budget process, followed by a 10:00 a.m. session to prioritize bills and a 10:30 a.m. presentation from the administration on its omnibus land-use and housing bill. Holly asked administration representatives (Patty McCoy and Alex Farrell) to emphasize the housing parts of the draft while noting parts of the draft have been referred to other committees for environment-related measures.

Holly and members also referenced ongoing work on a rural housing finance bill intended to help housing in truly rural areas; the chair said some language had been drawn from the administration’s draft and could be considered by the committee. He noted four witnesses would appear after lunch to discuss federal impacts, including labor and housing effects.

A member warned the committee that HUD is changing some fair-housing processes and that the state Human Rights Commission (HRC) could lose federal contract work; the member estimated that change could affect HRC funding by about $100,000, roughly one staff position’s worth of budgeted dollars.

No votes were taken; the committee adjourned to continue hearings and witness testimony the following day as scheduled.