04/10/2025

Senate Bill 145

Lead Sponsors: Senator Michele Reynolds and Senator Hearcel Craig

Status: Introduced (March 12, 2025)

Description: The bill renames the Department of Development to the Department of Housing and Development and creates or makes changes to various programs that the Department administers.

Welcome Home Ohio
Welcome Home Ohio (WHO) is a housing grant program that was originally created in the 135th General Assembly's Operating budget. The bill broadens eligibility criteria for the program both on the applicant side and on the eligible project side:

• Decreases the minimum square footage that a home must have to receive WHO funding from 1,000 square feet to 800 square feet.
• Allows WHO funds to be used for manufactured homes and residential units in a mixed-use development.
• Raises the income eligibility threshold to purchase WHO-funded homes to 120% of the median income of the county the home is located in.

All Ohio Future Fund
Expands the usage of the All Ohio Future Fund to include funding infrastructure that is critical for either site readiness and preparation or housing to accommodate a growing workforce.

Housing Dashboard and Toolkit
The bill requires the Department to create, publish, and maintain an online dashboard containing information concerning home prices, rental prices, rental vacancies, housing inventory levels, homeownership rates, foreclosure rates, and population growth.

The Department is also required to create a housing toolkit to provide information and guidance for local governments and the housing industry. It must include links to all comprehensive plans and zoning codes, among other information. The Department must also establish a hotline to provide administrative support to local governments seeking to adopt, implement, or manage zoning codes.

CCAO Position: No position (as of April 2025)