Bond of Missouri introduced the "Affordable Housing Expansion Act of 2002." This legislation
will expand the production of affordable housing for extremely low-income families in Maine
and other states.
"Maine's affordable housing is at a crisis level," stated Senator Collins. "We simply
must do something to relieve this dire situation, which falls most heavily on very low-income
families, who simply are unable to find decent housing at a reasonable rate."
The bill creates a block grant program for funds to go to each state for the rehabilitation
of existing low income housing, the development of new, affordable low-income housing and
the preservation of existing low-income housing units that are at risk of becoming unavailable
for low-income families. While the amount of funds are tied to the population of each state,
small states such as Maine will be guaranteed a minimum of at least $6 million.
Michael Finnegan, Director of the Maine State Housing Authority praised this
legislation, stating that, "Maine has a number of serious housing problems and this bill will help
address them."