Housing

The possibility of moving stalled housing bills forward combined with promises of down payment assistance is offering hope to housing advocates.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom fast-tracked the first $3.3 billion of a bond measure approved by voters in March.

The St. Louis-based senior-living facilities operator has almost $80 million in bonds outstanding.

The new law was modeled after a North Carolina law and its use in Charlotte, said Matt Wiltshire, president of Pathway Affordable Housing Corporation, which works to develop affordable rental housing in Nashville.

"The Maryland SmartBuy program is designed to help first-time home buyers who have student loan obligations qualify for acquisition financing under the Maryland Mortgage Program," said the CFO of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. 

The Virginia Resources Authority and the Virginia Housing Development Authority have deals on tap while gilt-edged Delaware is selling its GO debt.

The new legislation does not include a SALT cap adjustment, though some lawmakers had been holding out for one.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine rolled out the Welcome Home Ohio program, a product of the Ohio legislature's biennium budget bill, House Bill 33.

A bill with House and Senate support would change LIHTC bond requirements

Affordable housing expert Marian Zucker retired on Dec. 1 as head of S&P Global Rating's housing group after over 40 years of working in the public and private sectors of the municipal bond industry.