Housing Bank Points to Beacon Hill
Max Hart

It began 10 months ago as an idea.

This week, the idea took a giant step closer to reality when Aquinnah became the sixth town to support the creation of a housing bank, modeled after the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank.

The concept is called the Martha's Vineyard Housing Bank.

Now the heavy lifting begins.

In order to become law, the housing bank needs approval from the state legislature and also every Vineyard town.

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Legislation Drafted for Housing Bank
Ian Fein

Draft legislation for the proposed Martha's Vineyard Housing Bank will circulate around the Island this month as organizers seek public comment before the bill is filed in the state legislature some time in early September.

If approved at the state level - a prospect that many are calling difficult - the legislation would still need to come back to the Vineyard for another round of binding votes.

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Affordable Housing Initiatives Clear Key Hurdles at Ballot Box
James Kinsella

Affordable Housing Initiative Clears Key Hurdles at Ballot Box

By JAMES KINSELLA

Voters in three Vineyard towns yesterday brought the Island a step closer to the creation of a housing bank by backing the initiative and enacting the Community Preservation Act.

Approval of the CPA in Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and West Tisbury provided a crucial step on the road to establishment of a housing bank, which would be modeled on the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank.

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Housing Bank for Islands Clears the State Senate; Uphill Fight Lies Ahead
Ian Fein

After a lengthy partisan debate, the Massachusetts state senate yesterday afternoon approved special legislation to create public housing banks on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

But with a only a month left in the legislative term and a gubernatorial veto expected, the controversial bill - which would tax some real estate transactions to fund affordable housing initiatives - still faces on uphill battle on Beacon Hill.

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Housing Bank Legislation Languishes as Lawmakers Ready to Recess Session
Ian Fein

Housing Bank Legislation Languishes as Lawmakers Ready to Recess
Session

By IAN FEIN

With the state legislative session set to expire in 10 days, a
proposal to create public housing banks on Martha's Vineyard and
Nantucket appears to be effectively dead for the year.

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State Defeats Housing Bank
Ian Fein

The Massachusetts house of representatives dealt a crippling blow to Vineyard affordable housing advocates last week, voting 91-64 on Thursday to defeat legislation that proposed creating a public housing bank on the Island.

The vote was especially stinging because the proposal - which would have taxed real estate transactions to fund affordable housing initiatives - was already effectively dead for the year. Even if the house had approved the bill last week, it would have been subject to a gubernatorial pocket veto with no chance for an override.

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Vineyard Housing Bank Bill Cleared by House Committee, Proceeds to Senate
Jack Shea

A bill to establish a housing bank to fund affordable housing on the Island has cleared the Massachusetts House and is before the state Senate for consideration after failing in the House two years ago.

Rep. Eric Turkington, who represents the Vineyard, said this week he is heartened by the favorable vote by the House finance committee to create the fund, now before the Senate, that could create $2 million a year in affordable housing funds for the Island.

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Housing Bank Dies in Boston
Jim Hickey

After more than two years of debate and planning at the local and state level, time literally ran out last week on a proposal to impose a one per cent tax increase on the sale of more expensive homes on the Vineyard to pay for affordable housing.

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