House, Senate Pass Different Versions of Rental Housing Support Program

Low-income housing advocates scored victories in the Illinois General Assembly’s Veto Session when the Rental Housing Support program passed in both the House and Senate.  But, since the two houses passed slightly different versions of the legislation, advocates will regroup to pass this legislation through both chambers during the 2005 regular session.

The Rental Housing Support program is a key initiative of “It Takes a Home to Raise a Child,” a multi-year campaign led by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless to prevent and reduce family homelessness.  The Rental Housing Support program – backed by the Shriver Center, the City of Chicago, the Illinois Association of Realtors, and over 150 other organizations statewide – would create a state-funded rental assistance program that would subsidize the rent for thousands of families who earn less than thirty percent of area median income (around $19,000 for a typical family of four in Illinois).  The program would be funded by a small state surcharge ($10 or $11) on real estate documents recorded with county recorders.  Advocates expect this surcharge to subsidize over 5,500 families annually throughout Illinois.

The Rental Housing Support program was originally introduced in the 2004 spring legislative session as House Bill 4100 but stalled in the House Rules Committee despite its numerous legislative co-sponsors and organizational supporters.  The program resurfaced as SB 520 for the fall veto session, passing the House with strong bipartisan support (73-42) on November 9.  The Senate immediately considered parallel legislation (HB 626).  But during its Executive Committee hearing, some Senate Republicans expressed concerns about the scope and implementation of HB 626’s $11 document-recording surcharge.  Accordingly, advocates and their legislative allies decided not to call the bill for a full Senate vote immediately, and instead amended the bill to ease some legislators’ concerns, including a decrease in the total surcharge to $10.  The amended version of HB 626 passed the Senate 33-22-1 on January 10, 2005, during a special two-day final session of the 93rd General Assembly.  Unfortunately, the amended bill was not called for a concurrence vote in the House before the session ended.

Though it was not successfully enacted, the Rental Housing Support program has now proven its strong support in both the Illinois House and Senate, and advocates are hopeful that it will pass during the 2005 legislative session.  Advocates ask that constituents call their state legislators to urge their support of the Rental Housing Support program when it returns.