Affordable housing proposal clears final round

Lawmakers approved a bill April 9 intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the state’s efforts to increase affordable housing.

LB768, sponsored by Norfolk Sen. Robert Dover, makes a number of changes to the powers of the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act and the Middle Income Workforce Housing Investment Act.

The bill authorizes NIFA to establish and own nonprofit subsidiaries that further housing goals. NIFA will not be responsible for the debts, liabilities and obligations of any nonprofit subsidiary it creates.

LB768 also dissolves the Housing Authority Committee and grants DED the power to contract with statewide nonprofits to serve as agents for workforce and middle income housing programs. Among other provisions, the bill also:
• shortens the NIFA grant and loan application period from 90 to 60 days;
• allows funds held in any escrow account to be recaptured by DED; and
• provides that a building constructed or repaired using state grant funds will not be subject to state energy code compliance and mandatory plan reviews if it will not be owned or managed by the state.

The measure includes provisions of LB1246, also introduced by Dover.

Those provisions require NIFA to record all instances of revenue, fund balance and expenditure within a formal accounting system and submit, at least 20 days before the start of each legislative session, a report on the condition of all public funds for grants or loan programs involving public funds pursuant to an agreement with a state agency.

NIFA also is required to provide monthly accountings of all such transactions and detailed annual reports, beginning July 1, 2027.

Finally, the bill includes provisions of Syracuse Sen. Bob Hallstrom’s LB819, which extend sunset dates for the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act and the Middle Income Workforce Housing Investment Act to July 1, 2032.

The provisions also change definitions in the Middle Income Workforce Housing Investment Act to include construction cost in determining a property’s value, and increase the construction cap on owner-occupied housing units under the Rural Workforce Housing Program from no more than $325,000 to $375,000 and on rental units from no more than $250,000 to $300,000.

Lawmakers passed LB768 on a 49-0 vote.