$60M in new state, federal funds will go to expand housing in Maine

Gov. Janet Mills on Wednesday announced more than $60 million in funding for housing initiatives in Maine, including a $50 million federal investment through her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan and the American Rescue Plan Act.

The funding comes amid a chronic housing shortage that has worsened during the pandemic and was reflected in the latest Maine home prices, reported last week.

Ryan Fecteau, speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, also highlighted the need to solve the state's affordable housing crisis in his keynote speech at the Maine Real Estate & Development Association's annual forecast conference.

Of the $50 million in funding for housing announced on Wednesday, an initial $10 million is now available through MaineHousing, and is estimated to support at least 150 new affordable single-family homes. The remaining $40 million for housing will become available later this year.

“A home is more than brick and beams," Mills said. "It’s a place where you lay your head at night, where you raise your kids, where you get ready for work and where you pay your bills. The pandemic has put the price of homes, and the dream of home ownership, out of reach for too many hardworking families. It’s time we fixed that.

"By building more housing across Maine, more families will be able to realize the dream of having a safe, affordable place to live in the communities that they love.”

Separately on Wednesday, Mills announced funding for two additional housing initiatives from the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan. Those consist of $1.5 million for housing navigator services, as proposed by state Rep. Victoria Morales, D-South Portland; and $10 million to support homeless shelters in Maine communities, based on an initiative from state Rep. Kristen Cloutier, D-Lewiston.

Both measures were incorporated into LD 1733, "An Act to Provide Allocations for the Distribution of State Fiscal Recovery Funds," the legislation authorizing the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, and will be administered by MaineHousing, the state's housing authority.