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House creates Office of Housing Planning and Production, appropriates seed funds
Summary
The House passed legislation to establish an Office of Housing Planning and Production administratively attached to the Department of Finance and Administration, with an initial nonrecurring appropriation to hire staff and fund contracts to expand housing supply and coordinate homelessness responses.
The New Mexico House on Monday approved House Bill 448, creating the Office of Housing Planning and Production and directing it to coordinate state housing policy, reduce regulatory barriers and help local governments and tribal nations expand housing supply.
Representative Dixon, the bill sponsor, described the office as a vehicle to coordinate federal and state housing resources, offer technical assistance to municipalities and tribes, and collect better data on housing needs. The bill attaches the office administratively to the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) and includes a $2 million nonrecurring appropriation to staff the office and contract for specialized services.
Supporters said the office will centralize efforts, help communities navigate federal funding, and focus on increasing supply at multiple income levels. Representative Dixon told the House the office would hire two full-time equivalents (FTEs) and use the remaining funds for contracts, data dashboards and technical assistance.
Opponents raised concerns about creating a new executive-branch office instead of expanding the Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA, now Housing New Mexico), which has an existing statutory structure and board. Critics also said the state still has high funded vacancy rates in state government and questioned whether the executive branch office would give the legislature adequate oversight.
The sponsor said placing the office at DFA provides legislative oversight through appropriations and allows collaboration with DFA’s Local Government Division and Federal Grants Bureau. The bill passed the House on a 49-17 roll-call vote.
Representative Dixon said the office will focus on six objectives: support private development; reduce regulatory barriers; decrease chronic homelessness; support local and tribal solutions; improve homelessness and housing data; and leverage federal funds. The sponsor and several colleagues said multiyear efforts will be necessary, and the appropriation is intended as seed funding with performance metrics to be tracked by the Legislative Finance Committee.
The measure now advances to the Senate.
