Six committees are charged with building on the recommendations of the Housing Committee advising Gov. Rod Blagojevich's Transition Team, and plan to produce reports and recommendations by May 2004.
The Task Force created by executive order to implement Illinois' first housing policy,
as signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Sept. 16, 2003, is getting down to
business and has organized itself into six working committees. The
35-member Task Force includes various state and local officials, both
appointed and elected, as well as 18 private sector individuals (including three
MPC Board members and one staff member).
The full Task Force met for the first time
on Dec. 11 , 2003 to discuss its potential and charge.
At its Executive Committee
meeting on Jan. 7, 2004, several agreements shaped the Task Force work plan for
2004, including an outline of the committee structure and a commitment to pursue
a number of priorities during the year. The broader charge of the Task
Force is to develop a comprehensive plan for 2005 that prioritizes the housing
needs of historically underserved constituencies: lower-income workers who
cannot afford to live near their jobs, people struggling with homelessness,
individuals with disabilities, seniors, and households living in "at-risk"
affordable housing.
Building on its own work in recent years, in addition to forwarding the
broader charge of Executive Order, MPC’s key priorities on the Task Force are to
(a) identify incentives for municipalities who are forwarding the governor’s new
housing policy, (b) scale up its employer-assisted housing initiative statewide,
(c) promote better regional coordination, best-practices, and accountability
among public housing authorities, (d) pursue more financial resources for
housing, and (e) promote legislation codifying the governor’s Executive Order.
Guided by the Executive Order and momentum afoot, the Task Force has
organized committees around six critical charges:
- Community and regional housing solutions: Co-chaired by
Rockford Mayor Doug Scott and MPC, this Committee will work on "live near
work" strategies, the role of municipalities in forwarding the governor’s
housing policy, and address related issues such as fair housing and
immigration trends. The first meeting of this Committee will be Feb. 20, 2004
at 11 a.m. at the offices of the Illinois Housing Development Authority
(IHDA);
- Family housing, including public housing, rental assistance and
other strategies for serving the full range of households earning
less than 30 percent of Area Media Income;
- Preservation and rehabilitation, including issues related
to expiring subsidies, code enforcement and foreclosure prevention;
- Special needs housing (both with and without services)
for seniors, ex-offenders, emancipated youth, people with disabilities,
households struggling with homelessness, etc.;
- Rural and small city housing; and
- Housing innovation, and how to streamline and leverage
financing, as well as other best practices.
Each committee is charged with building on recommendations from the Housing
Committee advising Gov. Blagojevich's Transition Team, as well as other
consensus achieved in recent years. The Task Force will wrap up with a
report in May that identifies short- and long-term goals, as well as
recommendations for specific actions. The Task Force has further agreed to
establish priorities to act upon in 2004, in addition to its primary
responsibilities related to a more comprehensive strategy.
All Committees welcome public participation. Click here for a
schedule of working group meetings. Further information on all meetings
will be available both at MPC's and IHDA's Web sites.