Take Action! Use August Recess to Meet with Your Members of Congress In-District

Members of Congress will be home through Labor Day. Reach out and schedule a visit!

Congress will be in recess from through Labor Day. Now is the perfect time to schedule an in-district meeting or site visit with your federal lawmakers to educate them about the importance of affordable housing and how potential budget cuts will hurt people with low incomes.

Here are some resources you can use:

  • Summer 2017 Issues Guide: Top five critical issues before Congress.
  • Resources from the Our Homes, Our Voices campaign: Resources include talking points, sample op-eds, tweets, and how-to guides for setting up in-district meetings and site visits.
  • Town Halls: Check out townhallproject.com to see if your lawmakers are holding town hall meetings you can attend. Here are some questions to ask:
    • Question 1: Only 1 in 4 people who need housing assistance actually gets this help. Without a deal to lift the spending caps, this shortfall could get even worse if we see funding cuts to programs that help families keep roofs over their heads. Where will these families go if they are evicted from their homes or have to live out of their cars?
    • Question 2: Without a bipartisan deal to lift spending caps, Congress may cut or eliminate resources that our state uses to revitalize distressed areas, build senior centers and health clinics, help families get out of shelters and into homes, and help the lowest income people afford a place to live. What are you doing to help reach a budget deal?
    • Question 3: We are facing an affordable rental housing crisis in our state and across the nation. It will be impossible to solve this problem unless Congress lifts the spending caps so that we can invest more — not less — in housing opportunities. Will you commit to this? And what more should Congress be doing to address this national crisis?
    • Question 4: Republicans in Congress are currently discussing ways to reform the mortgage interest deduction in the broader conversation around tax reform. This raises the question of how Congress should invest the savings generated by mortgage interest deduction reform: lower tax rates or reinvest the savings in affordable housing. Do you support keeping housing dollars in housing?