A bill that would overhaul the state’s affordable housing system cleared its first hurdle Friday evening, but still has a long way to go before approval.
Senate Bill 519, sponsored by Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, would, over a period of several months, shut down the state’s scandal-plagued regional housing authorities and replace them with an affordable housing system overseen by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority.
The bill would also provide for audits of each of the seven housing authority regions to determine the extent of the mismanagement first revealed last year when Frances Williams, a member of the Las Cruces-based Region VII board, complained about problems. Several weeks after she went public, the Region III authority, based in
Papen’s bill has the blessing of Gov. Bill Richardson, but had been assigned to three Senate committees, which many legislators say is a common tactic designed to slow or kill bills that don’t have political support.
The bill, however, passed the Senate Public Affairs Committee on a 4-1 vote on Friday.
“I’m really pleased that the Legislature has been supportive of trying to bring the housing authority back to what it was originally created for – providing housing assistance to those who really need it,” Papen said. “The current system is broken. This legislation will bring accountability and oversight back into the process.”
The bill now moves to the Corporations and Transportation Committee and, if it’s approved there, the Finance Committee.