Committee advances $10 million housing‑incentive pilot with THDA

The committee advanced House Bill 25-09, a bill described by Chairman Jim Faison as a pilot program that would place $10,000,000 with the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) to be split evenly across the state’s three grand divisions to incent workforce housing projects.

Chairman Faison said the pilot “would target and knit innovative projects in areas where population growth is the highest and single family homes are the most expensive for families,” offering fiscal incentives and loans and giving priority to projects that provide workforce housing comprising at least 80% of units near employment centers.

Representative Bricken acknowledged support for additional housing but cautioned the state already runs many low‑income housing programs and asked whether the proposal would duplicate existing efforts. Chairman Faison said the bill aims to create incentives and noted priority would go to jurisdictions that adopt local incentives.

The clerk reported 21 ayes and 1 present not voting; HB 25-09 moves to government operations.