Conference committee continues work on housing bond bill

A House-Senate conference committee is working out differences between multi-billion-dollar bond bills passed by each chamber to kickstart housing production across Massachusetts.

The Senate passed a $5.4 billion housing bond bill on June 27, after the House passed its $6.5 billion version on June 5.

The Senate bill’s significant investments include $375 million for the HousingWorks Infrastructure Program and $275 million for innovative, sustainable and green housing initiatives.

Both the House and Senate bills include $2 billion for the rehabilitation, repair and modernization of more than 40,000 public housing units across the state, an increase of $500 million over what Gov. Maura Healey proposed in the Affordable Homes Act she filed last October.

Both bills would allow accessory dwelling units as-of-right in single-family zones, a provision that would preempt almost all local authority and existing regulations on ADUs.

The House bill includes $1 billion to expand the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s water and sewer services to areas north and south of Boston, but the Senate’s bill does not.

While both bills would create a “seasonal communities” designation and commission, the Senate version includes $50 million for housing solutions in those communities.

The Senate bill would allow inclusionary zoning bylaws or ordinances to be passed by a simple majority, rather than a two-thirds vote, if the local rule requires that no more than 13% of units to be affordable. Bylaws or ordinances that exceed the 13% threshold would require a two-thirds vote for adoption locally.

Neither bill includes the governor’s proposed local-option transfer fee on high-value real estate transactions, which is supported by a number of communities, including Boston. The fee would be used to fund affordable housing efforts in municipalities that adopt it.

Several amendments supported by the MMA were adopted in the Senate bill, including a provision that would double Chapter 40R Smart Growth payments to communities that have Smart Growth zoning districts.

The six-member conference committee is working to report out a bill for passage before the end of the formal legislative session on July 31.