Congressman Barney Frank
Representing Massachusetts' 4th District

Massachusetts Affordable Rental Housing to Benefit from Frank’s Provision in Stimulus Bill
$50 Million for Construction will Help Create Jobs
July 10, 2009

Congressman Barney Frank today announced that Massachusetts will receive $50.9 million in federal stimulus money due to a provision he had championed in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  The funds would go to finance new construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing units in the Bay State.

The funding mechanism will allow the U.S. Treasury to purchase unused tax credits from Massachusetts developers.  Many developers had previously hoped to sell these credits to finance new projects, but a depressed market for the credits had blocked financing and halted construction.  Now, those credits will be converted to cash, allowing developers to move forward in creating better affordable rental housing for Massachusetts residents.  According to the provision in the law, the stimulus funds must be spent by December 31st, 2010.

“This most recent example of the benefit Massachusetts will be receiving from the recovery bill is good news for three reasons,” said Congressman Frank.  “First it will provide a welcome boost to employment in the construction area; second it will add badly needed stores of affordable rental housing; and third the funding will help several cities and towns by acceleration the process of turning unproductive property into tax paying units. This is exactly what those of us who worked to include this funding in the recovery bill had in mind.”

“I worked closely with Congressman Richard Neal, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, Congressman Michael Capuano and Congressman Stephen Lynch to secure this provision in the bill.”

“We are grateful to our entire congressional delegation and especially Barney Frank for his role in making these recovery funds available for Massachusetts,” said Governor Deval Patrick.