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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1708 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1004 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Robyn K. Kennedy |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act to create affordable homes for persons with disabilities. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Robyn K. KennedyFirst WorcesterJames B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester3/3/2025 1 of 4 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1708 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1004 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Ms. Kennedy, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1004) of Robyn K. Kennedy and |
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| 19 | 19 | | James B. Eldridge for legislation to create affordable homes for persons with disabilities. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Housing. |
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| 21 | 21 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEE SENATE, NO. 884 OF 2023-2024.] |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | An Act to create affordable homes for persons with disabilities. |
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| 29 | 29 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 16 of Chapter 179 of the Acts of 1995, and any associated |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2regulations in 760 C.M.R. 53, are hereby stricken. |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3 SECTION 2. Chapter 121B of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the |
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| 34 | 34 | | 4following section: |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5 Section 61. (a) The following words whenever used in this section shall, unless a |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6different meaning clearly appears from the context, have the following meanings: — |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7 “Disability”, with respect to an individual, a person who has: (i) a physical or mental |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual; (ii) a |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9record of such an impairment; or (iii) being regarded as having such an impairment. 2 of 4 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10 (b) The department shall, subject to appropriation, establish and administer through |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11administering agencies, including, but not limited to, local housing authorities and regional |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12housing agencies, the Alternative Housing Voucher Program to provide rental assistance for low- |
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| 43 | 43 | | 13income persons with disabilities through mobile and project-based vouchers. The program |
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| 44 | 44 | | 14established under this section shall include any voucher supported by budget line-item 7004- |
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| 45 | 45 | | 159030 as of the effective date of this section. The department shall establish the amounts of the |
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| 46 | 46 | | 16mobile and project-based vouchers so that the appropriation in this item shall not be exceeded by |
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| 47 | 47 | | 17payments for rental assistance and administration. The vouchers shall be in varying dollar |
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| 48 | 48 | | 18amounts set by the department based on considerations including, but not limited to, household |
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| 49 | 49 | | 19size, composition, household income, and geographic location. |
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| 50 | 50 | | 20 (c) To be eligible to receive assistance under this section, a household shall have an |
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| 51 | 51 | | 21income that does not exceed 80 percent of the area median income, as determined annually by |
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| 52 | 52 | | 22the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Further, the head of household must |
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| 53 | 53 | | 23be a person with a disability no younger than 18 years and no older than 62. The department may |
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| 54 | 54 | | 24award mobile vouchers to eligible households occupying project-based units created under this |
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| 55 | 55 | | 25section that shall expire due to nonrenewal of project-based rental assistance contracts. |
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| 56 | 56 | | 26Households shall meet eligibility requirements as required in this section and regulations by the |
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| 57 | 57 | | 27department. |
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| 58 | 58 | | 28 (d) A household that receives assistance under this section shall be required to pay not |
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| 59 | 59 | | 29less than 25 percent of its net income, as defined by regulations issued by the department, for |
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| 60 | 60 | | 30units if utilities are not provided by the unit owner, or not less than 30 percent of its income for |
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| 61 | 61 | | 31units if utilities are provided by the unit owner. 3 of 4 |
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| 62 | 62 | | 32 (e) Except as provided under paragraph (f), the payment standard for each size of a |
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| 63 | 63 | | 33dwelling unit in a market area shall not exceed 120 percent of the fair market rent, or Small Area |
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| 64 | 64 | | 34Fair Market Rent as established annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban |
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| 65 | 65 | | 35Development, for the same size of dwelling unit in the same market area and shall be not less |
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| 66 | 66 | | 36than 110 percent of that fair market rent, except that no administering agency shall be required as |
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| 67 | 67 | | 37a result of a reduction in the fair market rent to reduce the payment standard applied to a |
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| 68 | 68 | | 38household continuing to reside in a unit for which the household was receiving assistance under |
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| 69 | 69 | | 39this section at the time the fair market rent was reduced. The department shall allow |
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| 70 | 70 | | 40administering agencies to request exception payment standards within fair market rental areas |
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| 71 | 71 | | 41subject to criteria and procedures established by the department. |
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| 72 | 72 | | 42 (f) An administering agency may use a payment standard that is greater than 120 percent |
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| 73 | 73 | | 43of the fair market rent as a reasonable accommodation for a person with a disability, but only |
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| 74 | 74 | | 44with the approval of the department. In connection with the use of any increased payment |
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| 75 | 75 | | 45standard established or approved pursuant to either of the preceding sentence as a reasonable |
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| 76 | 76 | | 46accommodation for a person with a disability, the department may not establish additional |
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| 77 | 77 | | 47requirements regarding the amount of adjusted income paid by such person for rent. |
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| 78 | 78 | | 48 (g) Payments for rental assistance under this section may be provided in advance, and |
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| 79 | 79 | | 49shall be authorized to pay for, but not be limited to, the following: (i) the first month of rent; (ii) |
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| 80 | 80 | | 50the last month of rent; (iii) security deposit; and (iv) moving expenses. |
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| 81 | 81 | | 51 (h) The amount of rental assistance voucher payment for an eligible household shall not |
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| 82 | 82 | | 52exceed the rent less the household’s minimum rent obligation. |
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| 83 | 83 | | 53 (i) The department shall promulgate regulations to implement this section. 4 of 4 |
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| 84 | 84 | | 54 (j) Any unspent funding appropriated for this section through budget line-item 7004-9030 |
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| 85 | 85 | | 55in any fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund but shall be made available for the |
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| 86 | 86 | | 56purposes of the item in the next fiscal year. |
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