Understanding HB819

I would like to correct the record as to Greg Hinkle’s letter criticizing HB 819, “Montana Community Reinvestment Plan Act,” passed by substantial bipartisan majorities in the closing days of the 2023 session. A merger of several bills addressing Montana’s housing shortage, our county commission voted on December 30th to participate in one of the programs in the bill: Sections 4-7, a mortgage assistance program (Program) for prospective homeowners in our county. Mr. Hinkle criticizes the Program, and apparently the entire bill, as communistic and Marxist. That would be news to 49 other states which provide some form of down payment or mortgage assistance, often for first-time homeowners (themortagereports.com).

To understand the Program, we need to review the players in an admittedly complex arrangement. With passage of HB 819, the legislature appropriated $50 million from the general fund to the Montana Department of Commerce (DOC) to be available to potential homeowners in all counties, with each county’s allocation essentially based on its pro rata share of state gross domestic product. Sanders County’s share is a minimum of $360,000.

Second, the Program invited nonprofit organizations to apply for DOC certification as “Certified Community Reinvestment Organizations (CROs)”. Once certified, a CRO works with potential homeowners and lenders to craft reduced-cost mortgage packages. State money designated for a county can be used to buy down the cost of mortgages for potential homeowners in a market where interest costs now exceed 7%. Apparently, three nonprofits have applied for certification as CROs.

Third, the Program required that counties designate, by December 31, 2024, whether they would participate and, if so, through which CRO. Our county commission did so and designated NeighborWorks Montana (NWMT). NWMT, organized in 1998, is, according to its website, “a leader in housing education . . . , an innovator in single-family lending, a trusted source of gap financing for developers, and a champion . . . for residents in manufactured home parks.”

Twenty other counties have signed up with NWMT and its affiliate. NWMT has pledged matching funds to bring the total available to Sanders County to $720,000.

One organization not part of this mix is the Sanders County Community Housing Organization (SCCHO). Contrary to Mr. Hinkle’s assertion, no money under HB 819 goes to SCCHO, which limits its purpose to affordable rentals. While Commissioner Tony Cox sits on the SCCHO board, he did not have a conflict when voting to participate in the Program.

I’m not sure why the Program would be labeled communist or Marxist, and Mr. Hinkle does not say. The Program reflects a good faith, bipartisan effort to address a critical public need: affordable housing. Since our country’s founding, we have used public funds to address societal needs, whether it be the federal government’s assumption of the thirteen states’ Revolutionary War debt, railroad land grants to hasten settlement of the West, or land grants to settlers under the Homestead Acts. Our Nation has frequently used these tools to encourage private action that also advances the public good.

Debra Achatz,

Trout Creek