Governor Gianforte Highlights Pro-Housing Reforms in Missoula

Tours Construction Site of New Multifamily Housing Development

MISSOULA, MT - Governor Greg Gianforte visited NeighborWorks Montana in Missoula today to highlight a new multifamily housing project under construction as the organization works to expand housing options across Montana.  

“Thanks to the leaders at NeighborWorks and our work with the Legislature, we are making the dream of homeownership more attainable for Montanans across the state,” Gov. Gianforte said. “With support from the HOMES program, they’ll be able to do even more to make sure working families, seniors, and first-time homebuyers have a place to call home.”

Established in 1988, NeighborWorks Montana is a leader in housing education and counseling, an innovator in single-family lending, and a source of financing for developers. This year, the Legislature passed and the governor signed into law House Bill 505 which extended eligibility to organizations like NeighborWorks for the HOMES Program, or Home Ownership Means Economic Security Program.

Visiting the Scott Street Ravara project in North Missoula, which was financed in part by a partnership with the Board of Investments, the governor heard of the importance of making home ownership more attainable.

As recommended by the governor’s Housing Task Force and as adopted in his Budget for Montana Families in 2023, the HOMES Program created a revolving loan fund to expand water and sewer infrastructure housed at the Board of Investments. The Board recently approved NeighborWorks as a lender for the HOMES program.

As passed by the legislature in 2023, House Bill 819 invested over $175 million to increase the supply of affordable workforce housing, including a $106 million investment in the governor’s HOMES Program. Included in his 2025 budget proposal, the Path to Security and Prosperity, the governor proposed investing an additional $100 million in one-time-only funding to boost the program and build more homes for Montanans. The budget passed by the Legislature provided $50 million.

According to the Montana Board of Investments, nearly 1,000 new homes being built across the state made possible by the HOMES Program with an additional 389 units reserved for the next state fiscal year.

To learn more about NeighborWorks Montana, visit www.nwmt.org.

To learn more about the Montana Board of Investments, visit investmentmt.com.