Whitmer signs bills to expand affordable housing across Michigan
LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill package Tuesday to support the development of affordable housing throughout the state of Michigan.
The bills will work to ease the shortage of affordable housing units by creating new housing options, with a focus on building new units in cities.
"Investments in affordable housing lower costs for families and make Michigan communities more attractive, easier places to live," said Whitmer. "They attract job seekers, spur economic activity, and make it easier to raise a family. I am proud to sign bipartisan bills to expand affordable housing in Michigan and make our state a place where anyone can afford to live, work, and raise a family. I am committed to growing Michigan's economy, creating good-paying jobs, and building a brighter future for all Michiganders."
Here are the bills that Whitmer signed:
- Senate Bill 362: Establishes attainable housing districts and provides certain tax exemptions for residential rehabilitation projects.
- Senate Bill 364: Supports the development and rehabilitation of residential housing and expands incentives for neighborhood enterprise zones.
- Senate Bill 422: Supports the establishment of residential housing districts in certain local governmental units by providing exemptions from certain taxes for residential facilities and housing.
- Senate Bill 432: Creates a state housing development authority, establishes certain funds to support housing development, land acquisition and development, rehabilitation, and more. In addition to this, the legislation establishes acceleration and foreclosure procedures, provides tax exemptions, authorizes payments instead of taxes by certain entities, and authorizes the making and purchase of loans, deferred payment loans, and grants.
Whitmer also signed bills for equitable home upgrades.
- House Bills 4378 and 4379: Ensure individuals who need whole-home generators for the continuous operation of medical equipment are not financially penalized.
Bills that expand opportunities for students were also signed.
- House Bills 6039 and 6040: Expands eligibility for dual enrollment options by allowing students in a fifth year of an early middle college program to participate in college athletics if they have used up their four years of high school eligibility.
Other legislation includes:
- House Bill 4416: Creates a new act, the Discharge of Prohibited Restrictive Covenants Act. This allows a homeowner to record a form with their local register of deeds to remove outdated and discriminatory language from the property deed.
- House Bill 6358: Transfers two state-owned properties from the Department of Corrections to the State Land Bank Authority.
The properties include the Riverside Correctional Facility in Ionia County from Department of Technology, Management and Budget to the State Land Bank Authority and the location of the former Michigan State Police laboratory in Kent County from the State Administration Board to Kent County. - House Bill 5248: Provides local municipalities, like the City of Roseville, the ability to raise money for police and fire through a special assessment by modifying the definition of "qualified city" in the Police and Fire Protection Act.
Cities qualify if they have a population of less than 15,500 or if they are a larger city with majority voter approval for the annual amount of the special assessment.
- House Bill 6369: ensures Michigan's on-demand automated vehicle laws remain consistent across local municipalities, keeping the state at the forefront of automated vehicle technology.
- House Bill 6370: Exempts certain types of environmental deed restrictions, which are intended to protect public health and the environment, from automatically being removed from property titles after 40 years.
- House Bill 6377: modifies the distribution funding structure of the County Veteran Service Fund by setting in perpetuity the minimum level of county funding for veteran service operations that is required to qualify to receive funding from the grant program.
In addition to signing these bills, Whitmer released the states first Statewide Housing Plan in a partnership with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. This was put in place to ensure Michiganders have access to affordable housing.
As part of this plan Whitmer set the goal of creating 75,000 new or rehabilitated affordable housing units over the next 5 years.