2025 Legislation Opens Funding Opportunity Through Commerce’s Board of Housing
For the first time in Montana’s history, affordable housing will receive ongoing state appropriations with the creation of the Montana Growth and Opportunity Trust. House Bill 924, sponsored by Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, and signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte on June 19, created the GO Trust and, within it, the GO Housing Fund. This flexible new resource will be available to fund affordable housing projects both large and small across the state.
The Montana Board of Housing, administratively attached to the Montana Department of Commerce, administers the GO Housing Fund’s affordable housing programs.
“The Montana Board of Housing is eager to work with partners to deploy these funds to benefit communities and low- and moderate-income families across the state,” said MBOH Director Cheryl Cohen. “The GO Housing Fund will provide an incredible opportunity for the board and its partners to deliver more affordable, attainable housing for Montanans whose housing needs are not met by the market.”
Statutory appropriations for the GO Housing Fund include $10 million from the Capital Developments Long-Range Building Program and over $21 million from the general fund in four transfer installments by May 1, 2027. With the addition of ongoing transfers of 20% of the state’s “volatile revenue” beginning July 1, 2027, and each subsequent fiscal year until June 30, 2035, the GO Housing Fund has the potential to grow to $500 million.
HB 924 moved two of the board’s existing programs, the Veterans’ Home Loan Program and Coal Trust Multifamily Homes Program, from the state’s Coal Trust Tax Fund to the GO Housing Fund. This transfer de-coupled these programs from the Coal Trust, providing greater flexibility for the board to establish and update the programs’ loan interest rates.
Additionally, HB 924 mentions the Housing Montana Fund, which was established by the legislature in 1999 but never received direct state appropriations. MBOH’s small Housing Montana Fund will remain, but a new GO Housing — Housing Montana Fund — will be the board’s primary revolving loan program going forward for affordable housing development like new construction and acquisition/substantial rehabilitation.
The Coal Trust Multifamily Homes Program has been renamed to the GO Housing Multifamily Homes Program. The $65 million previously authorized for this program will continue to revolve, and the current statutory requirements — including first lien position and projects subject to payment of property taxes except on tribal land — remain in effect.
Since HB 924 was signed into law, the MBOH team has been hard at work setting these new programs up for successes, collecting feedback from stakeholders, working through the administrative rulemaking process and finetuning program guidelines.
Board staff arranged feedback sessions with affordable housing developers, the Montana League of Cities and Towns, the Montana Association of Counties, economic development organizations, community land trusts, the Montana Continuum of Care Coalition, the Montana Chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials and others. Their feedback helped inform the proposed administrative rules for the programs, which were officially released for public comment on Sept. 26.
A formal public hearing was held on Oct. 22; the comment period concluded on Oct. 26. The board responded to all public comments received, and the administrative rules to implement HB 924 were adopted on Nov. 7, 2025. The final rules can be found at: rules.mt.gov. The board’s updated and combined Multifamily Loan Program Guidelines are also available at commerce.mt.gov.
On Dec. 11, the board hosted a virtual Housing Coordinating Team meeting where developers and stakeholders learned about the upcoming spring 2026 competitive application round for its multifamily loan programs. The meeting covered the board’s updated and combined Multifamily Loan Program Guidelines, proposed spring 2026 competitive application round timeline and estimated funds available for each program. A recording of the meeting is available at commerce.mt.gov.
For more information on the GO Housing Program and the upcoming application, sign up for Commerce’s “Weekly Roundup” newsletter at public.govdelivery.com. This newsletter will include details for a future application workshop, pre-application meetings, the date the application will open and approximate fund balances available. Potential applicants for the 2026 competitive spring application round will be asked to schedule a pre-application meeting with board staff in January 2026 before the application goes live in February 2026.
Developers can submit project-specific questions to the MBOH Multifamily Team at dochdmf@mt.gov.
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