Idaho’s Workforce Housing HB701 

By Karen Schumacher

On Friday, March 4, 2022, the Idaho House narrowly passed House Bill 701, the Idaho Workforce Housing Fund, sponsored by Rep. Blanksma.  Under this bill the legislature would allocate monies to a trust fund within the state treasury, which according to this article, would be administered by the Idaho Housing and Finance Association (IHFA).  “IHFA would approve grants for nonprofit developers to create affordable housing units…”  While Rep. Blanksma admonished the idea that America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds would be used to fund this, she claimed this bill is “only a path” for funding in the future.  Clearly the bill’s Statement of Purpose and other sources identify $50 million will originate from ARPA.  It appears that “path” can be jump started with ARPA funds, why else would it be in there?  What this bill also does is set up a public-private partnership between the Idaho government and private developers, it just being filtered through another organization.  This bill is intended to fill the “gap” for citizens who don’t qualify for housing subsidies and yet don’t earn enough money for “affordable housing’.

After meeting with his cronies, Governor Little made the recommendation to use ARPA funding for these purposes, although how that ARPA money could be used had not been defined.  Well, now it is.  The January, 2022 U.S. Department of Treasury final rule is that ARPA money can be used for “Improvements to vacant and abandoned properties, including rehabilitation or maintenance, renovation, removal and remediation of environmental contaminants, demolition or deconstruction, greening/vacant lot cleanup & conversion to affordable housing.”  It also references funding can go to “households that qualify for the National Housing Trust Fund” (NHTF).  This is another government run housing program that targets “building, rehabilitating, preserving, and operating rental housing for extremely low-income people.”  No doubt this is an expansion of government housing.

This really isn’t about workforce housing which is just a metaphor for affordable housing.  The Urban Land Institute (ULI) defines workforce housing as those who have a “moderate income, 60-120%” Area Medium Income (AMI) that includes rentals and home ownership.  This map identifies who in Idaho would qualify under the 60-120% AMI threshold.  H701 provides that financial assistance is given to housing “developments that include a commitment on the part of a local government to match.”  To develop these housing projects local governments will have to pony up as well, a fancy description for redistributing wealth.  20% of those monies must be given to rural areas.  The bill becomes void at the end of 2026.  Is that time allotted for the sole purpose of getting more nefarious plans in place such as through the ULI  mission for workforce housing?

Erik Kingston is the Housing Resources Coordinator for the Idaho Housing and Finance Association (IHFA), the association assigned to administering HB701 funds.  IHFA partners include Idaho Rural Partnership (IRP), the regional Western Community Assessment Network (WeCan), and several state agencies.  Mr. Kingston is on the IRP Board of Directors and is a member of WeCan.  As usual the federal government is the instigator of WeCan.

Mr. Kingston has devotion to several housing objectives and considers housing a “human right” as declared by Article 25 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Rights.  In his Housing Basics guide he supports housing cooperatives, community housing/land trusts, and using modular and 3D printed homes.

Kudos to Mr. Kingston for trying to create solutions for those individuals who are unable to afford housing.  But what he is really doing is recommending and supporting a more hidden agenda, and the source is from his multiple buddies.  Behind the scenes these groups are actively using their collaborators to bring their housing initiatives forward.  Collaborators include the University of Idaho (U of I), the IRP program, and the ULI.

Going back to the ULI, who cares what it thinks?  ULI is a global non-governmental organization, with an Idaho chapter, that supports Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), including #11, affordable housing for all, and highlights real estate alignment with the SDGs.  Several globalists have held webinars for the Idaho ULI chapter, including one who is Co-Chair of the Real Estate Governors of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Coen van Oostrom.  Multiple ULI executives are members of the WEF including Patrick L. Phillips, Lynn Thurber, and Peter Baccile,  One can reasonably assume that these individuals pass on their SDG and WEF visions to naive ULI listeners.  This presenter is really choice, Solomon Greene, previously HUD’s principal adviser on the United Nations process for setting global sustainable development goals.

Mr. Kingston’s support of modular homes, 3D printed houses, and housing cooperatives all come from the WEF.  In this WEF document, housing issues have already been solved and are now trickling down to Idaho via these partnerships and collaborations thanks to Governor Little and Rep. Blanksma.

So yes, Rep. Blanksma, there is a direct trail back to the WEF and its objectives for “workforce housing”, just another term to disguise a feel good agenda, and new government housing program.  It is WEF ideology that is being passed on to Idaho groups for implementation, the typical way these operatives work.  You are proposing to hand over millions of dollars to an organization with a resource coordinator who is leading the effort to bring together groups for meeting common globalist housing objectives.

An apology is owed to every house member that challenged you with the truth.  This type of public housing ploy, government money for housing, has been tried, and failed, before.  It is also another example of how Governor Little uses his cronies to devise a spending scam that benefits them, and miraculously it flows through the legislature unlike some other bills for citizens that get stuck in the drawer.   While you may be ok spending money that has already “saddled us with debt”, most Idahoans do not ascribe to your money management thinking.  What this money really does is benefit the looters that use it to advance ideology that Idahoans directly oppose.

There are many unanswered questions about how this money would be allocated, and used, especially by non-profits which often hold the same ideologies as the globalists.  Regardless of how Rep. Blanksma chooses to perceive this ill-gotten idea, it is public housing because the money is coming from the government and historically that has not worked.  Even the IHFA itself “functions as an agent for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development”.

The Senate most likely will be voting on this bill next week.  Contact your legislator and let them know you are opposed to HB701.