Advocacy for CDCs

MACDC advocates on behalf of CDCs and the communities they serve to create the public and private sector policies that will promote community development throughout the state. MACDC focuses particular attention on state policy, which is critical to the success of CDCs and other community based non-profit organizations. MACDC's top priorities generally focus on affordable housing, small business development, community development, and asset development policies.

We maintain an active presence in the Massachusetts State House and sponsor an annual "Legislative Action Day" that typically attracts 350 or more CDC leaders and allies to the State House. We also engage local CDC staff, board members and volunteer leaders to participate in the policy making process. While we spend most of our time working on state policy, we also advocate for similar policy supports at the federal level and with the City of Boston where nearly one-third of our members operate.

MACDC's policy efforts do not stop at the State House. Once legislation is passed, we work diligently to ensure its speedy and effective implementation by state housing agencies. We advocate for regulations and guidelines that will most effectively support CDCs and other community based non-profit organizations serving lower income communities and families.

Campaign for Our Neighborhoods

Campaign for Our Neighborhoods is the MACDC advocacy initiative for 2009-2010.  Unveiled at the biannual convention in November, 2008, the Campaign is based on meetings and conversations with members and their leaders to learn what was needed to address issues and opportunities throughout communities in Massachusetts.

Campaign for Our Neighborhoods will focus on four areas:

1. Protect tenants in foreclosed homes and promote long term, sustainable homeownership
We will work to pass legislation that will:

• provide eviction protection to tenants in foreclosed properties who are in good standing and have paid their rent;
• increase the 90 day right to cure a delinquency to 150 days;
• provide a local option to exclude nonprofits from property taxes if they are acquiring foreclosed properties to provide affordable housing;
• criminalize mortgage fraud and
• require owners of foreclosed or abandoned buildings to post contact information of Massachusetts-located management office on building and to publicly file contact information with city.  
  

We will also focus on fully implementing the state’s new anti-foreclosure law, collaborating with state and local    agencies to effectively deploy $55 million of new federal resources aimed at buying and redeveloping foreclosed    and abandoned properties in the hardest hit neighborhoods.

2. Preserve and build quality rental housing
The foreclosure crisis highlights the importance of maintaining and expanding the supply of high quality affordable housing. We will advocate for the allocation of $200 million in capital funds for affordable housing per year – up from $170 million in FY 2008 and for the sustainable and equitable deployment of these funds by establishing new program guidelines that put greater emphasis on community building, civic engagement and community development. MACDC will also continue to work on an Expiring Use bill that provides the public with a Right of First Refusal to purchase and preserve affordable rental homes that are at risk.

3. Strengthen locally owned businesses:
The small, locally owned businesses that play such a critical role in our communities are facing rising costs, declining sales, and tightening credit markets. MACDC and its members are committed to helping these business owners survive these tough times because they play a critical role in creating vibrant communities, expanding wealth, creating jobs and providing services. Our efforts will include securing $1.5 million per year for the State’s Small Business Technical Assistance program.

4. Strengthen community based development in our neighborhoods
In 1977 the state legislature established a formal legal framework to recognize and support CDCs under state law. This law, called Chapter 40F, helped make the community development movement in Massachusetts a national model. The current economic crisis demonstrates the important role that strong CDCs can play in helping to renew and stabilize neighborhoods, small towns, and rural communities across the state. However, long term economic, demographic and policy shifts have made it increasingly difficult for these organizations to achieve their goals.  We need to update and modernize this statute to reflect current best practice and to empower the field to better meet the challenges of the future.

Go to our Fact Sheet for information about Campaign for Our Neighborhoods.

The LIFT Campaign - Local Investments for Tomorrow

Local Investments for Tomorrow (LIFT) was MACDC's Advocacy Campaign for 2007-2008. LIFT addressed 3 broad issues including addressing the rise in foreclosures in our communities throughout Massachusetts. We had incredible success in passing legislation and securing funding. MACDC, working with its members, its allies and supportive legislators was able to win several important victories. Four of them stand out

• Successfully passed the Housing Bond Bill that authorizes $1.275 billion over five years in bond spending for the production and preservation of affordable housing.
• Successfully passed a new foreclosure prevention law that created a State CRA and $2 million for the foreclosure prevention counseling program.
• Successfully invested in the economic vitality of local communities with continued increase in funding, even during tough economic times, for the Small Business Technical Assistance Provider Grant Program.
• While it didn’t become law, MACDC, its members and other partners did get an expiring use bill unanimously passed in the Senate with a That bill also had full support of the administration. This means we are in a strong position to pass an expiring use bill to protect affordable expiring use homes this legislative season.  

Public policy is a driving force in our field. However, effective community development requires active participation from the private sector as well. Therefore, MACDC works to strengthen CDC connections to key private sector allies including banks, insurance companies, and financial intermediaries. In recent years, we have negotiated major commitments from banks like Fleet, Citizens and Sovereign that have resulted in billions of dollars being invested in the communities served by CDCs.

In 2006, we won several key victories for our members, including $30 million in new funding for the clean up of Brownfields sites; $2 million in new funding to support local small business development programs; a new $200 million Housing Bond Bill; and $11 million for workforce development and $3 million for adult basic education.

In 1998, we helped to create the first and only Insurance Community Investment Initiative in the United States, an effort that has pumped more than $150 million of new capital into community development projects across the state. We have also worked with other institutions, like Harvard University, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and local foundations to design and implement effective community development initiatives.