Ohio Senate leaders just slipped an amendment into the state budget that would have a devastating impact on Ohio’s affordable housing stock. Please take a moment to add your organization to the Ohio Housing Council’s letter of opposition to this dangerous proposal. The letter must be signed before noon today. To show support, you can also contact your Statehouse Senator. Find your Senator here. More details on the amendment can be found in the "State News" section or in this COHHIO memo.

This workshop, hosted by OHFA, will discuss how to move through design and construction to operations with the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria for projects in Ohio. Attendees will examine which components of the Criteria differ from their standard procedures. Learn more.

General Support Grants are available for up to $4,000 to support groups who are building movements for justice and liberation and resisting systemic oppression through grassroots/cultural organizing, art-making and resilience building. Deadline is June 4.

The purpose of the program is to establish, expand, and sustain a public health workforce to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19. This includes mobilizing community outreach workers, which includes community health workers, patient navigators, and social support specialists, to educate and assist individuals in accessing and receiving COVID-19 vaccinations. HRSA will fund recipients that have demonstrated experience and expertise in implementing public health programs, particularly in medically underserved areas. Award recipients will need to clearly describe how the funding will directly serve and impact vulnerable communities; and demonstrate how they will prioritize hiring individuals from the communities they will serve by providing outreach, education and assistance related to the COVID-19 vaccine. Deadline is June 9.

This program supports nonprofits working to improve healthcare, housing, hunger, or education. Support is provided in the form of monetary gifts, gift cards, and merchandise in-kind. Deadline is July 1.

Burten, Bell, Carr Development Inc, Cleveland, is seeking a Real Estate Development Manager.

ACEnet, Athens, is seeking a Project Coordinator and Trainer.

St. Clair Superior Development Corporation, Cleveland, is seeking an Executive Director.

Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County is seeking a CEO.

Ohio Development Services Agency, Columbus, is seeking a Deputy Chief, Office of Community Assistance.

There are several high-priority AmeriCorps VISTA positions around the state which still need to be filled. Areas with open positions include Columbus, Cleveland, and Athens. Learn more.

View more employment opportunities on our website. OCDCA members and our funders with employment opportunities may send their notices for free posting to Lisa Much. There is a small fee for non-members to post jobs.

On June 1, the Senate Finance Committee's accepted a substitute version of the spending bill (HB 110), setting up a final week of testimony before an expected floor vote next week. Of note in the Senate version is the inclusion of the Main Street Job Recovery Program at $500,000 over the biennium. This is less than OCDCA hoped for and we’ll continue to advocate for an increase in the Senate Omnibus and Conference Committee process. The Senate version also includes harmful language by requiring affordable housing to be taxed as if it is market-rate. This would be catastrophic to affordable housing underwriting and development. This mirrors Senate Bill 36 from the previous 133rd General Assembly, sponsored by then-Senator and now-Senate President Matt Huffman (R – Lima). Sign-on your organization to protect affordable housing against this attack here – deadline is end of today. The Senate budget is short on needed investments in communities, but includes a 5% across-the-board personal income tax cut, increased from the House's 2% cut.

On April 15, Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) introduced a bipartisan bill to minimize, if not eliminate, student loan debt. A companion bill is slated to be introduced in the House of Representatives. The Earn to Learn Act will allow low-income students to pay for college-related expenses through a college-matched savings program. The savings account allows participating states or nonprofits to give an extra $8 to every $1 a student puts into the account. The money can be used once a student selects a school to attend.

The bill is based on a similar program that has existed in Arizona for a decade and has helped many students in the state graduate debt-free. Currently, the Ohio CDC Association is in preparation to pilot Earn to Learn Ohio, utilizing institutional and private dollars. OCDCA has been working in concert with the lead organization, Earn to Learn Arizona, to replicate and scale the project throughout the state.

Following a 2018 bipartisan reform in Ohio, a few banks have partnered with payday lenders that are unlicensed in Ohio to issue loans at prices nearly double those charged by state-licensed payday lenders. These loans are purportedly exempt from state laws because they are originated by banks — the “true lender” also known as Rent-a-Bank — before being transferred to high-cost lenders, and they have been the subject of legal disputes. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s 2020 rule allowed these nominal partnerships, the primary purpose of which is avoiding state laws, but on May 11 the Senate repealed the “true lender” rule through Congressional Review Act authority.

In related news, Hawaii’s legislature unanimously passed payday loan reform modeled in part on Ohio’s law. For more information on Ohio’s payday loan reform and Rent-a-Bank, read Danielle Sydnor’s and Nate Coffman’s opinion editorial. 

From NLIHC…HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge unveiled today details of the housing provisions in the “American Jobs Plan,” President Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal. While the Biden administration previously proposed a total of $213 billion in housing investments, today Secretary Fudge announced they have increased their proposal to $318 billion and shared details on the spending request. The administration also proposes, among other things: $2 billion for new project-based vouchers; $35 billion for the HOME Investment Partnership Program; $55 billion for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit; $3 billion to fund lead-based paint testing and abatement; $2 billion to meet the housing needs of tribal communities; and $2 billion for HUD’s Section 202 program to increase the supply of affordable housing with supportive services for low-income seniors.

The administration also released their FY 2022 budget which calls for increases in CDBG, HOME, and housing counseling among other programs. Click here for a comparison budget chart.

From the National Community Reinvestment Coalition….The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that they will halt the further implementation of the 2020 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rule and will reconsider the rule in its entirety — a necessary first step to reversing the Trump-era changes to the critical anti-redlining law. Portions of the harmful rule that have not yet been implemented, including how banks will be evaluated under new exams and additional data reporting requirements, will not go into effect as originally scheduled. Other provisions that are already in effect, including the designation of activities eligible for credit under the CRA, require further OCC action. The action follows the appointment of Michael Hsu as Acting Comptroller. 

The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds provide substantial flexibility for each local government to meet local needs—including support for households, small businesses, impacted industries, essential workers, and the communities hardest hit by the crisis. Concurrent with this program launch, the Treasury has published an Interim Final Rule that implements the provisions of this program.