Action Digest

Jun 26, 2012

URGENT ACTIONS

Take action on these issues today.

HUD and Rural Housing Appropriations

The Timeline
The full House of Representatives will consider two important spending bills beginning TOMORROW, June 27. H.R. 5972, the House’s FY13 spending bill for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD), as well as H.R. 5973, its bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (Agriculture), were marked up in Subcommittee during the week of June 4. Currently, both bills underfund important housing programs.

The Asks
Reach out to your Representative today. Urge him or her to:

  1. Offer or support amendments to the THUD bill that would increase funding for Tenant Based Rental Assistance, Project-Based Rental Assistance, Public Housing and Homeless Assistance Grants.
  2. Oppose adding any policy provisions to the THUD bill that would harm extremely low income households, particularly provisions that would increase minimum rents.
  3. Support full funding for rural rental housing programs, by restoring funding to at least the level set in FY11.


The Tools

  • For more information and talking points, view last week’s Call to Action.
  • View NLIHC’s budget chart for more details.
  • To contact your Representative, call the Congressional switchboard at 877-210-5351, or visit our website and enter your zip code.


SIGN-ON LETTER – Support Nondefense Discretionary Programs

The Timeline
Make sure your organization signs this letter by this Friday, June 29 to join fellow advocates in opposing cuts to nondefense discretionary (NDD) programs.

The Ask
Join more than 2,000 organizations already signed on to urge Congress to avoid sequester by passing a “balanced approach to deficit reduction that does not include further cuts to NDD programs.” The sequester will impose indiscriminate, across-the-board cuts through the planned sequester. The cuts will devastate housing and social service programs, and many other programs that carry out core government functions.

The Tools


WEIGH IN WITH LEGISLATORS

Contact your Members of Congress and encourage them to co-sponsor the following bills:

H.R. 3619:  To make the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act permanent

The Ask
Urge your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 3619, a bill introduced by Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN), which would permanently extend federal protections for renters facing foreclosure. The current Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act is set to sunset in 2014.

The Tools


S. 489 & H.R. 1477: To provide critical funding for the National Housing Trust Fund

The Ask
Urge your Senators to co-sponsor S. 489, and your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 1477.  Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD) introduced bills that would capitalize the NHTF through profits from the Treasury Department’s sale of Troubled Asset Relief Program warrants. These bills would provide much-needed funding for the NHTF.

The Tools

  • For more information on the bills, view our NHTF fact sheet.
  • View current co-sponsors of S. 489 and H.R. 1477 by looking the bills up here.
  • To contact your Members of Congress, call the Congressional switchboard at 877-210-5351, or visit our website and enter your zip code. 


H.R. 5901: To raise the national minimum wage to $10 an hour

The Ask
Urge your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 5901, the Catching Up to 1968 Act, introduced by Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) on June 6. The legislation would raise the national minimum wage to $10 an hour and index the wage for inflation. Increasing the national minimum wage is one important step toward ensuring that low and extremely low income workers can afford safe and decent housing without being cost-burdened.

The Tools


S. 1989 & H.R. 3661: To establish minimum credit rates for Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects

The Ask
Urge your Senators to co-sponsor S. 1989, introduced by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Urge your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 3661, introduced by Representatives Patrick Tiberi (R-OH) and Richard Neal (D-MA). The bills would establish a minimum credit amount that LIHTC developments would receive, protecting them from reductions in investor equity that can be used to build affordable housing.

The Tools

  • To learn more, view NLIHC’s fact sheet.
  • View current co-sponsors of S. 1989 and H.R. 3661 by looking the bills up here.
  • To contact your Members of Congress, call the Congressional switchboard at 877-210-5351, or visit our website and enter your zip code.

 
STAY INFORMED

Prepare today for future action.

American Community Survey (ACS) Funding

It is important that the Senate version of the Commerce, Justice, and Science spending bill (S. 2323) keeps full funding for the ACS, and continues to require mandatory response to the survey. Urge your Senators to support these priorities as the bill moves forward.

On May 9, the House passed its Commerce, Justice, and Science spending bill. The bill included an amendment to eliminate all funding for the ACS. The data provided by the ACS is critical for determining the need for affordable housing at the local level. The Joint Economic Committee held a hearing on the implications of the House bill on June 19. To learn more, read this week’s Memo to Members article. View the written testimony submitted by NLIHC for the hearing record here.


Housing Reform: Affordable Housing and Self-Sufficiency Act (AHSSIA)

AHSSIA was approved by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity on April 13. To date, a full Committee mark up is not scheduled. To learn more about AHSSIA, read NLIHC’s Memo to Members article.