Earlier this fall, the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight held a public hearing at the State House to review a report by Inspector General Gregory Sullivan regarding the state’s 40B (affordable housing) program. HBAM Public Policy Co-chair, Mark Kablack, Esq., and HBAM Legislative Counsel Ben Fierro, attended the hearing, which took testimony exclusively from the Inspector General and officials from the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and the Department of Housing and Community.

The hearing largely reviewed previously reported concerns of the Inspector General about alleged abuses of 40B, and provided the Patrick Administration with an opportunity to explain recent changes to the program’s regulations and guidelines. Subsequent to the hearing, the HBAM sent a letter to the Senate Post Audit and Oversight Committee clarifying inaccurate statements made by the Inspector General during his testimony regarding typical builder profit. HBAM President-Elect Judy Jenkins, Mark Kablack and Ben Fierro also met with the staff of the committee to explain the difficulties builders face in trying to build affordable housing in Massachusetts.

Finally, HBAM Legislative Counsel Ben Fierro testified on behalf of the association at a public hearing held last month by the Department of Housing and Community Development on the changes adopted earlier this year to the 40B guidelines.