Montana’s housing

from page 6 intended to serve low-income residents who would otherwise struggle to keep a roof over their heads.

— House Bill 546 would expand an existing state program that uses money from the Montana Coal Trust to provide low-interest loans for affordable housing projects. Sponsored by Rep. Dave Fern, D-Whitefish, it passed an initial House floor vote 91-9 and is currently under review by the House Appropriations Committee.

— An as-yet-unintroduced bill, draft LC 2310, would create a state tax credit to complement the existing federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. When introduced, the bill will be sponsored by Rep. George Nikolakakos, R-Great Falls. Because both measures in- volve the state budget, they have flexibility to skirt the March 3 transmittal deadline, when non-budget bills were required to have passed at least one legislative chamber.

Renter Protections

Bills that aim to expand legal protections for renters and mobile home park residents, who typically rent the lots their homes sit on, have seen mixed results at the Legislature this year.

— A bill that would have required application fee refunds for unsuccessful rental applicants, House Bill 233, was voted down by the House Judiciary Committee in January. HB 233 was sponsored by Rep. Kelly Kortum, D-Bozeman.

— A similar bill, Senate Bill 320, passed the Senate on a 34-16 vote Feb. 27 and now proceeds to the House. It is spon- sored by Sen. Ellie Boldman, D-Missoula.

— House Bill 428 and House Bill 429, Republican-sponsored measures to enhance protections for mobile home park tenants, were voted down by the House Judiciary Committee. HB 428, which among other provisions would have required a two-year term for lot rental renewals, failed on a 6-13 party-line vote. HB 429, which would have required park owners to give tenants 60 days’ notice before a sale to make it easier to organize counter-offers to take the parks into co-op ownership, failed narrowly on a 9-10 vote. The bills, sponsored by Rep. Mike Yakawich, R-Billings, and Rep. George Nikolakakos, R-Great Falls, were both strenuously opposed by landlords.

— House Bill 785 would guarantee renters who aren’t on month-to-month leases 60 days’ notice from a landlord who plans to change their lease terms or decline to offer them a new lease. Sponsored by Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, it passed the House March 3 on a 60-37 vote.

Short-term rentals

Lawmakers have also considered legislation to address concerns that the proliferation of Airbnb-style short-term rentals has eaten into the housing stock available for rent by permanent residents in many Montana communities — or, conversely, limit how local governments can address those concerns themselves.

— House Bill 430 would let local governments add a 0.25% surcharge on top of existing state lodging taxes to raise money to fund programs that pay landlords to rent their properties to workers on a long-term basis. The bill, modeled on an existing program in Big Sky, is sponsored by Rep.