Sens. Stabenow, Levin Announce $78 Million in Recovery Package Funding for the Michigan State Housing Development Authority

Funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which passed earlier this year

May 22, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Carl Levin (D-MI) announced today that the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) has been awarded $78,310,613 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding through the Department of Treasury. The funding will support the construction or acquisition and rehabilitation of rental housing for low-income families and individuals throughout the state.

Article continues below...

“I am pleased this recovery funding will provide MSHDA with the resources it needs to assist struggling families across Michigan,” said Stabenow. “Not only will this funding help MSHDA develop quality, affordable housing for those hit hardest during these tough economic times, but will also help create construction jobs throughout the state.”

“Providing affordable housing to families that have been hit hard by the economic downturn is an important goal,” said Levin. “I am hopeful that this economic recovery funding will give MSHDA the resources they need to make quality homes available to families in need while also helping create jobs and boost the economy throughout Michigan.”

In prosperous economic times, developers are successfully incentivized through tax credits to invest in the development of low-income housing. But depreciation in the housing market has severely hampered the effectiveness of this credit by reducing the availability of financing for housing developers to initiate projects. The ARRA allows the state housing agencies that administer these grants to receive direct funding assistance instead of a tax credit.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assists in the allocation and administration of these grants.

For more information on grants by the Treasury Department as allocated through the economic recovery package, please visit http://treasury.gov/recovery/. For more information about Michigan’s state affordable housing programs or the grant allocation process, please visit http://www.michigan.gov/mshda.

Source: Senator Debbie Stabenow