Background
The special session budget bill--SB-002A--cuts, redirects and sweeps housing trust fund monies. The total amount cut from the 2008-09 budget is $23,027,511 (see lines 685-686 of the budget).
In sections 44-46, Florida Housing is directed to transfer funds originally appropriated in the areas of down payment assistance, farmworker and special needs housing, and other programs to the State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP) program. The result is a net increase in SHIP funding of $29,846,695 for 2008-09.
Most significantly, section 47 of the bill commands Florida Housing to return to the state treasury $190,000,000 of “unexpended funds” from any monies appropriated to the Corporation by June 1, 2009, without regard to the year in which the funding was appropriated. The Legislature directs that these funds, “to the maximum extent feasible, shall first reduce unexpended funds allocated by the Corporation that increase new housing construction.”
This mandate can only be met by returning funds for which Florida Housing had made preliminary commitments to projects in the State apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) program and the Community Workforce Housing Innovation Pilot (CWHIP) program, and the Rental Recovery Loan Program (RRLP). Florida Housing is developing emergency rules to govern the allocation of remaining funds in those programs.