Amid an ongoing housing crisis, state lawmakers are again pushing for Pennsylvania to launch a home repair program to help residents preserve their properties.
Identical legislation in the House and Senate calls for the creation of the Pennsylvania Home Preservation Grant Program. If passed, local entities could apply for state funding to help homeowners with low-to-moderate incomes, including those with habitability issues and people who want to improve their home's energy or water efficiency.
A total of $50 million would be administered by the Department of Community and Economic Development, or DCED, which would also operationalize the program.
"Being able to disperse funds to homeowners who have critical needs to their homes can mean the difference between them being able to stay in their homes and them losing their homes," said state Sen. Nikil Saval, D-Philadelphia, who introduced the bill.
The legislation has bipartisan and bicameral support. But its future is uncertain as intense budget negotiations continue with Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration, which proposed the $50 million program and could seek to fold funding for it into the final budget deal it strikes with lawmakers.
The governor advocated for the program during his budget address in February. He noted that almost 60% of homes in Pennsylvania were built before 1970, then highlighted the plight of a homeowner in Lawrence County who can't afford to fix her leaky roof.
"We can help her. We can solve this problem. I know you see the needs in your communities," Shapiro said.
DCED Secretary Rick Siger, in a statement, said that the Shapiro administration is "working to ensure that every Pennsylvanian has access to a safe and affordable roof over their head." He said the program would help more residents stay in their homes, grow local economies and "lift up the entire Commonwealth."
Will the third time be the charm?
In 2022, state lawmakers created the Whole-Home Repairs Program using $125 million in federal aid dollars issued through the American Rescue Plan. Under the grant program, county governments and nonprofits could apply for direct funding to help property owners make critical repairs.
Under the initiative, eligible homeowners could receive up to $50,000. Small landlords could get the same amount in the form of a forgivable loan.
The one-time funding was used to repair more than 2,600 homes across the state. But over 18,000 homeowners remain on waitlists for home repairs.
Since then, there have been two separate efforts to continue the popular program. In 2023, another $50 million was included in the state budget, but it was never appropriated. The money "got lost in the shuffle" during last-minute budget negotiations, according to Spotlight PA.
A year later, Shapiro's budget proposal included state funding for a home repair program, but the dollars were left out of the final budget deal. Saval said there were potential concerns with replacing the initial federal funding with state dollars. Senate Republicans were also more focused on funding for education and human services.
Saval said the motivation behind the latest effort to launch another repair program remains the same: To help people stay in their homes.
"Every dollar that we invest in a program of this kind increases the housing security of people and families in this commonwealth, and increases the stability of those communities where people can stay in their homes," he said.
If approved, the funding would go to households whose income does not exceed between 80% and 120% of the area median income. In Philadelphia, that translates to between $95,520 and $143,280 for a family of four.
Danielle Thomas, who owns a rowhouse in the city's Nicetown section, would be overjoyed if the PA Home Preservation Program comes to pass.
Thomas bought her home five years ago and has been trying to find ways to pay for critical repairs ever since. She moved in after going through a homeownership program offered through the Philadelphia Housing Authority. And after the property passed inspection, she thought she was starting a new chapter for her and her family.
Before buying the home, Thomas and her family had spent more than a decade living in public housing. At one point, she was staying at a homeless shelter.
"I was excited about everything," said Thomas, a single mother of four who helps lead an afterschool program and summer camp at an elementary school.
Now the home is a constant source of worry, often sending her into a depression.
Every time it rains, water leaks throughout the house. The problem is so severe that one of her sons is living with family, and Thomas is sleeping on the couch so one of her daughters can have a bedroom.
She's laid out for some repairs and received help from a city repair program, but there's still more work to do to stabilize the house and she simply doesn't have the money to pay for it.
"I'm really at rock bottom right now," Thomas said. "I pray everyday that I can get some help."
The state's next budget was supposed to be passed by June 30. And while it's not unusual for negotiations to go past the deadline, it could be weeks before a final deal is struck.
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