Ensures that the department of housing is able to access the full calendar year worth of housing choice voucher data for the annual report required by this section and amends the content of the information required to be submitted in the annual report.
Summary
S0612 amends Rhode Island’s low- and moderate-income housing reporting law to improve the annual data collected and reported by the Department of Housing. The bill shifts the annual report deadline from March 1 to April 15 so the department can use a full calendar year of federal housing choice voucher data, and it updates the reporting requirements to reflect current agency responsibilities and terminology.
The bill requires the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation to collect data on Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers received and used by public housing authorities and agencies, and it directs municipalities and housing authorities to provide additional information for the annual report. The report must include fee-in-lieu collections from developers, projects funded by those fees, voucher utilization and unfunded voucher counts, and administrative fees used to administer vouchers. The report must be posted publicly on the Department of Housing website and shared with specified state housing entities.
Impact
This act amends § 45-53-12 of the General Laws governing annual reporting on low- and moderate-income housing. It changes the reporting deadline, transfers reporting duties from the Office of Housing and Community Development to the Department of Housing, and expands/clarifies the data that municipalities and public housing authorities must submit. The practical effect is to improve the completeness and usefulness of statewide housing voucher and affordable housing financing data, while imposing ongoing reporting obligations on municipalities, public housing authorities, and the state housing system.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Senate 35-0 and later passed the House in concurrence 69-4, indicating strong overall agreement with the goal of improving housing data collection and aligning the report with available federal information. The voting pattern suggests general bipartisan acceptance of the measure’s administrative and informational purpose.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive controversy in the available record, and no committee transcript is provided. Any potential points of concern would likely relate to the added reporting burden on municipalities and public housing authorities, the shift in administrative responsibility to the Department of Housing, and the expanded disclosure of voucher and fee-in-lieu data. However, the overwhelming vote totals suggest these issues were not significant enough to generate major opposition.