Ohio Housing Trust Fund in Jeopardy

Good Afternoon Advocates,

Today, the latest changes were made to the state budget through the Omnibus amendment in the Senate. Despite your tremendous advocacy efforts last week, the Ohio Housing Trust Fund remains in jeopardy. The budget still contains the proposal to cut Trust Fund revenues in half and redistribute the other half to newly created county entities that lack housing experience and coordination.

If the amendment makes it through the legislative process, it will go into effect July 1st. The state will have only half of the money it currently administers, so unless this change is rejected, all organizations currently funded with Ohio Housing Trust Fund dollars will see dramatic reductions without any clear access to local funds.

[Local updates: If the Senate version passes, approximately $25 million will be divided among the 88 counties, so Cuyahoga County will never get back the funding we received in the past. Small counties will get a small amount of the funds that they will not have enough to do a housing project. That money will sit or will be wasted.  Since most of the counties around Cuyahoga send their homeless to the Cleveland shelters to get help, we deserve a larger portion of the Trust Fund.]   If you know any local media people, please send it on. You’re welcome to add a quote of your own.

Attached also is a fact sheet with a list of the reasons why this amendment is a terrible idea.

We need your help today in calling your house and senate members. Ask them to support the House version of the Housing Trust Fund language – not the Senate version -- when the bill goes to the conference committee later this week.

Here are the contact lists for the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate.

Please let us know how your legislators respond.

Thanks for your support,

Cathy Johnston
Advocacy Director
614-280-1984 X 25