Senator Royce West presented Senate Bill 208 to the Committee on Local Government as a response to a state housing affordability crisis. The bill would establish a Workforce Housing Capital Investment Fund, administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) through a competitively chosen nonprofit administrator, to provide zero-interest loans to eligible nonprofit builders for development costs associated with subdividing and building housing for households earning 30–80% of area median income.

West said the fund would support land acquisition, planning and design costs, impact and permitting fees, flood mitigation, and utility infrastructure. The committee substitute removes a prior 15‑year experience requirement for applicants to broaden participation and expands eligible contracting entities to include nonprofit affiliates of single-family residential builders. Senator West and witnesses said the fund was envisioned to be significant (one senator mentioned an ‘‘originally anticipated’’ $50 million), but no fiscal appropriation or exact funding source was finalized in committee.

Witnesses included Vicky Johnson, executive director of Montgomery County Habitat for Humanity, who described donated land in Magnolia with potential for more than 200 homes and said upfront infrastructure costs make access to capital vital for nonprofit developers. Daniel Elkin, director of policy for Come Dream Come Build CDCB, and Charles Coats with Bryan-College Station Habitat for Humanity also testified in support, saying revolving loans can unlock projects that traditional lending and philanthropy do not cover. Felicity Maxwell of Texas for Housing and Dr. Lavanda Loney (board member, Fort Cavazos area Habitat; associate principal) described positive community and student outcomes tied to stable homeownership.

Committee members asked about project scope (whether Habitat would develop infrastructure versus only homes); witnesses said approaches vary by organization and county. The committee took public testimony and left the bill pending subject to call of the chair; no floor appropriation or final funding amount was adopted at the hearing.