FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 656
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BEAN.
2475S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To amend chapter 620, RSMo, by adding thereto seven new sections relating to rural workforce
housing, with a penalty provision.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 620, RSMo, is amende d by adding thereto 1
seven new sections, to be known as sections 620.2030, 620.2032, 2
620.2034, 620.2035, 620.2036, 620.2038, and 620.2040, to read 3
as follows:4
620.2030. 1. Sections 620.2030 to 620.2040 shall be 1
known and may be cited as the "Rural Workforce Housing 2
Investment Act". 3
2. For purposes of sections 620.2030 to 620.2040, the 4
following terms mean: 5
(1) "Department", the department of economic 6
development; 7
(2) "Director", the director of the department of 8
economic development; 9
(3) "Eligible activities of a nonprofit development 10
organization": 11
(a) New construction of owner -occupied or rental 12
housing in a community with demonstrated workforce housing 13
needs; 14
(b) Substantial repair or rehabilitation of 15
dilapidated housing stock; or 16
(c) Upper-story housing development; 17 SB 656 2
(4) "Matching funds", dollars contributed by 18
individuals, businesses, foundations, local and regional 19
political subdivisions, or other nonprofit organizations to 20
a workforce housing investment fund administered by a 21
nonprofit development organization; 22
(5) "Nonprofit development organization", a regional 23
or statewide nonprofit development organization approved by 24
the director; 25
(6) "Qualified activities", include, but are not 26
limited to, purchase and rental guarantees, loan guarantees, 27
loan participations, and other credit enhancements, or any 28
other form of assistance designed to reduce the cost of 29
workforce housing related to eligible activities of the 30
nonprofit development organization; 31
(7) "Qualified investment", a cash investment in a 32
workforce housing investment fund administered by a 33
nonprofit development organization; 34
(8) "Rural community", any city or county with a 35
population of fewer than fifty thousand inhabitants as 36
determined by the most recent federal decennial census; 37
(9) "Workforce housing": 38
(a) Housing that meets the needs of modern working 39
families; 40
(b) Housing that is attractive to new residents 41
considering relocation to a rural community; 42
(c) Owner-occupied housing units that cost not more 43
than two hundred seventy -five thousand dollars per unit to 44
construct or rental housing units that cost not more than 45
two hundred thousand dollars per unit to constr uct. For 46
purposes of this subdivision, housing unit costs shall be 47
updated annually by the department based upon the most 48
recent increase or decrease in the Producer Price Index for 49 SB 656 3
all commodities, published by the United States Department 50
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics; 51
(d) Owner-occupied and rental housing units for which 52
the cost to substantially rehabilitate exceeds fifty percent 53
of a unit's assessed value; 54
(e) Upper-story housing; and 55
(f) Housing that does not receive f ederal or state low- 56
income housing tax credits, community development block 57
grants, or loans or grants from the Missouri housing trust 58
fund under section 215.034; 59
(10) "Workforce housing investment fund", a fund that 60
has been created by a nonprof it development organization and 61
certified by the department to encourage development of 62
workforce housing in rural communities. 63
620.2032. 1. There shall be established within the 1
department of economic development a workforce housin g grant 2
program to foster and support the development of workforce 3
housing in rural communities. 4
2. A nonprofit development organization may apply to 5
the department for approval of a workforce housing grant for 6
the creation of a workforce housing investment fund. The 7
application shall be in a form and manner prescribed by the 8
director. For fiscal years ending on or before June 30, 9
2028, grants shall be awarded by the director on a 10
competitive basis until grant funds are no longer 11
available. Grant maximums shall not exceed one million 12
dollars to any one nonprofit development organization over a 13
two-year period, with no more than two million dollars 14
cumulative for any single grantee for all fiscal years 15
ending on or before June 30, 2028. Grants shall require a 16
minimum one-to-one in matching funds to be considered a 17
qualified grant application. Unallocated workforce housing 18 SB 656 4
grant funds held by the department shall be available to be 19
awarded in the next program year. 20
3. Grants shall be awarded based upon: 21
(1) A demonstrated and ongoing housing need as 22
identified by a recent housing study; 23
(2) A community or region that has a low unemployment 24
rate and is having difficulty attracting workers and filling 25
employment positions; 26
(3) A community or region that exhibits a demonstrated 27
commitment to growing its housing stock; 28
(4) Projects that can reasonably be ready for 29
occupancy in a period of twenty -four months; and 30
(5) A demonstrated ability to grow an d manage a 31
workforce housing investment fund. 32
4. A workforce housing investment fund shall be 33
required to receive annual certification from the department. 34
5. A nonprofit development organization shall: 35
(1) Invest or intend to invest in workforce housing 36
eligible activities; 37
(2) Use any fees, interest, loan repayments, or other 38
funds it receives as a result of the administration of the 39
grant to support qualified activities; and 40
(3) Have an active board of directors with ex pertise 41
in development, construction, and finance that meets at 42
least quarterly to approve all qualified investments made by 43
the nonprofit development organization. A nonprofit 44
development organization shall have a formal plan and proven 45
expertise to invest unused workforce housing investment fund 46
balances and shall have an annual audit of all financial 47
records conducted by an independent certified public 48
accountant. 49 SB 656 5
620.2034. 1. There is hereby created in the state 1
treasury the "Rural Workforce Housing Investment Fund", 2
which shall consist of moneys appropriated to the fund by 3
the general assembly. The state treasurer shall be 4
custodian of the fund. In accordance with sections 30.170 5
and 30.180, the state treasurer may a pprove disbursements. 6
The fund shall be a dedicated fund and, upon appropriation, 7
moneys in this fund shall be used solely as provided in 8
sections 620.2030 to 620.2040. The department shall 9
administer the fund and may seek additional private funds, 10
nonstate funds, or funds from other interested parties to 11
use in the workforce housing grant program. 12
2. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the 13
contrary, any moneys remaining in the fund at the end of the 14
biennium shall not revert to t he credit of the general 15
revenue fund. 16
3. The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the fund 17
in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any 18
interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be 19
credited to the fund. 20
620.2035. 1. If a nonprofit development organization 1
fails to engage in the initial qualified activity within 2
twenty-four months after receiving initial grant funding, 3
the nonprofit development organization shall return the 4
grant funds to the departmen t for credit to the rural 5
workforce housing investment fund established under section 6
620.2034. 7
2. If a nonprofit development organization fails to 8
allocate any remaining initial grant funding on a qualified 9
activity within twenty -four months after engaging in the 10
initial qualified activity, the nonprofit development 11
organization shall return such unallocated grant funds to 12 SB 656 6
the department for credit to the rural workforce housing 13
investment fund established under section 620.2034. 14
3. The director shall have discretion to transfer any 15
unused funds to any qualifying trust or fund before August 16
28, 2030. Beginning August 28, 2030, any funds held by the 17
department and not designated by the director to be 18
disbursed to an alternative trust or fund shall be 19
transferred to the Missouri housing trust fund established 20
under section 215.034. 21
620.2036. 1. Each nonprofit development organization 1
shall submit an annual status report to the director. The 2
report shall certify that the nonprofit development 3
organization meets the requirements of sections 620.2030 to 4
620.2040 and shall include a breakdown of program activities. 5
2. The annual report shall include, but not be limited 6
to: 7
(1) The name and geographica l location of the 8
reporting nonprofit development organization; 9
(2) The number, amount, and type of workforce housing 10
investment funds invested in qualified activities; 11
(3) The number, geographical location, type, and 12
amount of investments m ade; 13
(4) A summary of matching funds and where such 14
matching funds were generated; and 15
(5) The results of the annual audit required under 16
subsection 5 of section 620.2032. 17
3. If a nonprofit development organization ceases 18
administration of a workforce housing investment fund, it 19
shall file a final report with the director in a form and 20
manner required by the director. Before August 28, 2030, 21
any unallocated grant funds shall be returned to the 22
department for credit to the rural wor kforce housing 23 SB 656 7
investment fund. Beginning August 28, 2030, any unallocated 24
grant funds shall be returned to the department for credit 25
to the Missouri housing trust fund established under section 26
215.034. 27
4. If a nonprofit development organizatio n fails to 28
file a complete annual report by February fifteenth, the 29
director may, in his or her discretion, impose a civil 30
penalty of not more than five thousand dollars for such 31
violation. All moneys collected by the department under 32
this subsection shall be remitted to the state treasurer for 33
distribution in accordance with Article IX, Section 7 of the 34
Constitution of Missouri. 35
620.2038. 1. The department shall use its best 1
efforts to ensure that grant funds awarded to nonpro fit 2
development organizations are targeted to the geographic 3
communities or regions with the most pressing economic and 4
employment needs. 5
2. The department shall use its best efforts to ensure 6
that the allocation of grant funds provides equitable access 7
to the benefits provided by sections 620.2030 to 620.2040 to 8
all eligible geographical areas. 9
3. The department may contract with a statewide public 10
or private nonprofit organization that shall serve as agent 11
for the department to help ca rry out the purposes and 12
requirements of sections 620.2030 to 620.2040. The 13
department or its agent shall use for expenses only that 14
portion of the funds available for the workforce housing 15
grant program through the rural workforce housing investment 16
fund necessary to cover the actual costs of administering 17
the program including, but not limited to, the hiring of 18
staff. 19 SB 656 8
620.2040. 1. The department shall submit an annual 1
status report to the general assembly and the governor tha t 2
includes, but is not limited to: 3
(1) The number and geographical location of nonprofit 4
development organizations establishing workforce housing 5
investment funds; 6
(2) The number, amount, and type of workforce housing 7
investment funds inves ted in qualified activities; and 8
(3) The number, geographical location, type, and 9
amount of investments made by each nonprofit development 10
organization. 11
2. The report to the general assembly shall be 12
submitted electronically. 13
3. Information received, developed, created, or 14
otherwise maintained by the department in administering and 15
enforcing sections 620.2030 to 620.2040, other than 16
information required to be included in the report to be 17
submitted by the department to the governor a nd the general 18
assembly under this section, may be deemed confidential by 19
the department and not considered public records subject to 20
disclosure under chapter 610. 21
4. The director may promulgate all necessary rules and 22
regulations for the adminis tration of sections 620.2030 to 23
620.2040. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is 24
defined in section 536.010, that is created under the 25
authority delegated in this section shall become effective 26
only if it complies with and is subject to all of the 27
provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 28
536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and 29
if any of the powers vested with the general assembly 30
pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective 31
date, or to disappro ve and annul a rule are subsequently 32 SB 656 9
held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking 33
authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 34
2025, shall be invalid and void. 35