Washington, D.C.- The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) is strongly opposed to the Local Zoning Decisions Protection Act of 2017, which seeks to eviscerate certain tools—created under the Obama administration—that would enable local communities to better meet their fair housing obligations and promote housing choice.
For almost 50 years, the Fair Housing Act has been the law of the land, barring discrimination in housing and requiring communities take active steps to end racial segregation. Ultimately, the goal of this milestone legislation—and Congress’s intent in enacting it—is to ensure that everyone, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status, is able to choose the neighborhoods where they want to live based on what is best for themselves and their families. Providing all families, no matter what their background, with this choice requires that we work towards making every community one with ample opportunity for economic mobility, with access to good schools, jobs, healthcare, and transportation.
Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) once stated that “American citizens should be free to choose where they would like to live.” We couldn’t agree more and wish that Mr. Gosar would have stood by those words before he introduced such misguided legislation.
This bill undermines the goals of the Fair Housing Act by making it more difficult for communities to remedy racial segregation on the local level and ensure families have the opportunity to move to the neighborhood of their choice. It also undercuts President-elect Trump’s campaign promise to revitalize urban communities and increase economic mobility for all Americans.
We urge Congress to uphold the Fair Housing Act to ensure everyone in America has equitable access to opportunity and fair housing.
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Established in 1974 by Cushing N. Dolbeare, the National Low income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that assures people with the lowest income in the United States have affordable and decent homes.