An Act To Promote Energy-efficient Affordable Housing
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1656
Committee: Labor and Housing
Sponsors: MILLETT, JACKSON, CUDDY, FECTEAU, GERE, GROHOSKI, PEBWORTH, SYLVESTER, BRENNER, HICKMAN

Legislative Document
No. 1656
H.P. 1227
House of Representatives, May 5, 2021
An Act To Promote Energy-efficient Affordable Housing
Received by the Clerk of the House on May 3, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on Labor 
and Housing pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MILLETT of Cape Elizabeth.
Cosponsored by President JACKSON of Aroostook and
Representatives: CUDDY of Winterport, Speaker FECTEAU of Biddeford, GERE of 
Kennebunkport, GROHOSKI of Ellsworth, PEBWORTH of Blue Hill, SYLVESTER of 
Portland, Senators: BRENNER of Cumberland, HICKMAN of Kennebec.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  Construction of energy-efficient affordable housing.  The funds 
provided by this Act must be used by the Maine State Housing Authority, referred to in this 
section as "the authority," to fund the construction of energy-efficient affordable housing 
through the green housing construction project established under this section, referred to in 
this section as "the project."  The authority shall work with housing developers through a 
competitive bidding process to implement the project.  The use of the funds provided by 
this Act is subject to the following conditions and requirements.
1.  Each time the authority awards funds to a developer using money that is derived, in 
whole or in part, from the project, that developer must enter into a pre-hire, collectively 
bargained project labor agreement with the workers who will build the housing.  A project 
labor agreement must apply to all workers who build housing through the project, including 
those employed by a contractor and all subcontractors.  A project labor agreement must 
protect the collective bargaining rights of the workers involved in building the housing. 
2.  All of the housing built through the project must be multifamily residence buildings 
containing apartments, as opposed to single-family houses.  Between 55% and 60% of the 
apartments built under the project must be set-rate apartments, and the remaining 
apartments must be market-rate apartments.
3.  Market-rate apartments built through the project may be owned, leased and sold on 
the open market.  Residents of set-rate apartments built through the project may not pay 
more than 25% of their income on rent and utilities combined.  Any difference between the 
operating and maintenance costs of a set-rate apartment and a resident's ability to finance 
those costs must be subsidized by any combination of a variety of state or federal programs, 
including but not limited to:
A.  Appropriations drawn from state bonds;
B.  Subsidies;
C.  Project-based vouchers;
D.  Housing choice vouchers under Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937;
E.  General assistance; and
F.  Grants.
4.  A person is eligible to apply to live in a set-rate apartment built through the project 
if that person's adjusted gross household income as reflected on the person's latest federal 
income tax return is below 70% of area median income using the household size 
adjustments for area median income calculated and published by the federal Department of 
Housing and Urban Development.  An eligible applicant with a lower household income 
must be prioritized over an eligible applicant with a higher household income who has the 
same number of household members.  A person may not be evicted from that person's 
housing if that person's income increases beyond the application limits.  Set-rate apartments 
may be publicly owned or may be entrusted to a community land trust or a housing 
cooperative.  To avoid segregating low-income communities into isolated housing projects, 
the set-rate apartments must be interspersed with the market-rate apartments in the same 
apartment buildings. 
5.  Housing built through the project must be designed to meet or exceed the 
requirements for certification in at least one of the following building certification systems:
A.  Passive House by Passive House Institute US, Inc. or International Passive House 
Association or a successor organization;
B.  Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold by the U.S. Green Building 
Council or a successor organization; or
C.  Living Building Challenge by the International Living Future Institute or a 
successor organization.
6.  Housing built through the project must provide onsite or nearby renewable energy 
production of no less than equal to the system size of a photovoltaic array of an area totaling 
100% of the building's roof area.
7.  To ensure that subsidized housing remains affordable until the end of its useful life, 
housing built through the project must:
A.  Be owned and controlled by State Government or county or municipal 
governments;
B.  Be owned and controlled by a housing authority or a charitable organization under 
Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as social 
housing; or
C.  Have a limited equity structure such as a community land trust, deed restrictions, a 
housing cooperative or other innovative housing model.
8.  The authority shall form a community advisory board of stakeholders, including but 
not limited to low-income residents and nonprofit partners, to review project proposals, 
advise the authority and report on the status of the project's impact on the community.  The 
board shall survey residents about their experience in housing through the project and 
evaluate the effectiveness of financing mechanisms and climate and workforce goals in the 
construction process.
9.  Residents of housing built through the project have the right to form tenant 
associations to organize, to meet collectively and to negotiate with management on 
priorities for repairs, upgrades and quality of life improvements to the buildings.
10.  When determining where to build new housing through the project, the authority 
shall prioritize project proposals that are:
A.  Geographically proximate to communities in which there are chronic and severe 
shortages of affordable housing;
B.  Geographically proximate to public transportation hubs and routes;
C.  Cost effective;
D.  Designed to provide a comfortable standard of living for residents in well-designed, 
pleasant housing; 
E.  Supported by a well-developed, detailed and highly credible plan submitted by the 
developer; 
F.  Submitted by a developer who employs a highly diverse workforce to design and 
build the housing and prioritizes diversity of the workforce when awarding contracts 
to subcontractors, including with regard to race, gender, religion and immigration 
status; and
G.  Designed to be available and affordable to individuals or families whose adjusted 
gross income is less than 30% of area median income calculated and published by the 
federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
11.  When hiring workers, hiring contractors, awarding contracts, negotiating project 
labor agreements, adopting rules and enforcing rules, the authority shall maximize, to the 
greatest extent feasible, lawful and appropriate, racial and gender equity within the hiring 
processes for all workers involved in housing construction through the project. 
12.  Contractors, subcontractors, firms, corporations, partnerships and all other entities 
working on housing construction through the project shall, at all times, make good faith 
efforts to promote workforce diversity, including with regard to race and gender.  If the 
authority determines that a contractor, subcontractor, firm, corporation, partnership or other 
entity is not making good faith efforts to achieve workforce diversity, the authority may 
prohibit that entity from bidding on contracts or being awarded contracts for the project for 
years.
13.  If the authority violates the terms of this section, including, but not limited to, the 
requirement to enter into one-project project labor agreements with developers or the 
requirement to equip all housing with on-site or nearby renewable energy production, the 
Attorney General may initiate a suit against the authority to compel it to comply with this 
section or any resident of this State may initiate a suit against the authority to compel it to 
comply with this section.
The authority may accept federal funds to carry out the purposes of this section.
Sec. 2.  Appropriations and allocations.  The following appropriations and 
allocations are made.
MAINE STATE HOUSING AUTHORITY
Initiative: Provides funds for energy-efficient affordable housing.
GENERAL FUND
2021-22
2022-23
All Other
$100,000,000
$0
__________
__________
GENERAL FUND TOTAL
$100,000,000
$0
SUMMARY
This bill provides funds in the amount of $100,000,000 to be used by the Maine State 
Housing Authority to provide energy-efficient affordable housing.  It also authorizes the 
authority to accept federal funds for this purpose.