Officials highlight BEHIP, MER and Brownfields work and flag federal funding uncertainty
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Summary
Agency witnesses told the Senate committee that BEHIP and MER are cost-effective tools to restore housing and that Brownfields investments have leveraged private redevelopment; they also warned that some federal funding streams are uncertain and asked the committee for continued support.
Agency leaders described several programs the state is using to increase housing supply and support local economies and flagged risks tied to federal funding decisions.
Lindsay Curley highlighted the CHIP rollout and said regional collaboration is central to many infrastructure investments that enable housing. Lyle Jepsen told senators CHIP could channel up to about $2 billion over 10 years into housing-related infrastructure and described the Brownfields program as having leveraged roughly $408 million in redevelopment investment so far.
Alex Farrell said BEHIP (rehabilitation) delivers units at lower public cost than many traditional new-construction programs and noted an average public cost per unit for conversions of about $39,000. He said MER — a manufactured-home improvement and repair program — is now funded on a permanent basis with a base allocation of $2,000,000, allowing permanent staff and steady program delivery.
Senators pressed agencies on timeline and measurement: how the state will measure whether permitting and project throughput are improving, where bottlenecks remain and which programs produce the best return on public dollars. Farrell said the department maintains dashboards that track projects coming online and is prepared to share data with the committee.
Farrell also said the agency will deliver a land‑bank progress report (due Jan. 15) that will evaluate capitalization options and tax-sale processes; the report will recommend against using eminent domain for the proposed state land bank and examine alternatives to bring offline units back into use.
No votes were held. The committee asked agencies to provide written memos and draft language where appropriate before the Jan. 29 committee-bill deadline.