Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed three affordable housing bills into law: House Bill 538 (the Housing Expansion and Affordability Act of 2024); HB 599 (the Housing and Community Development Financing Act of 2024); and HB 693 (the Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024). The bills fall in line with the Moore Administration’s goal of … Read more
The Utah Executive Appropriations Committee (EAC) released its draft budget for the 2025 fiscal year, and the allocated funding for affordable housing and homeless services is significantly less than Gov. Spencer Cox’s budget recommendation. In December, Cox released his budget recommendations, which allocated $45.5 million for affordable housing, $193 million for alleviating homelessness, and $150 … Read more
At the 2023 Southern California State of Reform Health Policy conference, leaders discussed a key issue facing both the state of California and the entire country—permanent and affordable housing. Earlier this year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declared a state of emergency to accelerate resources to individuals experiencing homelessness. A primary issue contributing … Read more
Lawmakers committed more than $200 million to increase Oregon’s housing supply, help rehouse and shelter people experiencing homelessness, and prevent future homelessness during the 2023 legislative session. House Bill 2001 is comprehensive, and its passage provides resources for each community in the state to address their specific affordable housing crises. It amends land use requirements … Read more
The Senate passed two bills to help address Oregon’s homelessness crisis on Tuesday. Senators passed the Affordable Housing and Emergency Homelessness Response Package (House Bills 2001 and 5019) with bipartisan support. The bills now head to Gov. Tina Kotek’s desk for her signature. The package is a response to Kotek’s emergency executive order … Read more
On Feb. 1st, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his Framework for Freedom Budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which includes major investments in cancer research and behavioral healthcare. The Framework for Freedom budget totals $114.8 billion, and primary focuses include expanding the economy, restoring the environment, and maintaining health reserves to respond to natural disasters. … Read more
Gov. Jared Polis presented his annual State of the State address to the Colorado House of Representatives on Wednesday where he outlined the progress his administration has made on healthcare and the ongoing issues around affordability facing the state. “Together we’ve reduced costs for healthcare coverage through Reinsurance, the Colorado Option, Omni Salud, … Read more
The need to build more affordable housing and address homelessness in Washington are crucial initiatives that take center stage in Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed budget and are high on other lawmakers’ lists. Experts identified some ways to address the issues at the 2023 Washington State of Reform Health Policy Conference. Kat Latet, director … Read more
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! This week’s newsletter includes information about Washington’s new Native-serving crisis line, reproductive health legislation being prepared in advance of next year’s legislation session, and hospital leaders’ concerns about constrained children’s hospital capacity in the wake of RSV. In case you haven’t heard, we also have our first conference … Read more
We’re glad to be back reporting in Hawaii after a brief hiatus last month. Reporter Shane Ersland has recently began reporting in the state, and his coverage of Hawaii’s SDOH improvement plan, an initiative to exempt medical services from the state’s general excise tax, and efforts to address medication use disparities among Hawaii’s indigenous populations … Read more