House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA) introduced on July 16 two major housing bills: the “Housing is Infrastructure Act” and “Ending Homelessness Act.” If enacted, the bills would provide the robust resources needed to ensure the lowest-income and most marginalized households have safe, affordable, and accessible homes.
The bills advance the HoUSed campaign’s top priorities and would address the major cause of the nation’s housing crisis: a severe shortage of rental homes available and affordable to people with the lowest incomes. The Housing is Infrastructure Act would provide $70 billion to address the capital repair backlog in public housing; $45 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund to build and preserve homes affordable to the lowest-income households; $2.5 billion for Section 811 housing for people with disabilities and Section 202 housing for the elderly; and $2 billion for both rural and Tribal housing programs. The Ending Homelessness Act would create a universal housing voucher entitlement program phased in over 10 years to ensure that every eligible household receive rental assistance. The bill also includes key reforms, including a ban on source-of-income discrimination and a requirement to use Small Area Fair Market Rents to ensure households of color and low-income households have greater housing choice.
“More than ever, the country needs increased and sustained investments in solutions to keep the lowest-income people stably, accessibly, and affordably housed,” said NLIHC’s President and CEO Diane Yentel in a press release for the bills. “Thanks to Chairwoman Waters’ effective leadership and deep commitment, we are closer to realizing that goal than we’ve been in decades. These essential bills, taken together, could end America’s housing and homelessness crisis once and for all. By expanding rental assistance to every eligible person, fully preserving public housing, and investing in the national Housing Trust Fund to build more homes affordable to households with the greatest needs, these bills will help achieve the HoUSed campaign’s vision for truly universal, stable, and affordable homes for all.”
Take action today by calling your members of Congress and urging them to co-sponsor the Housing is Infrastructure Act and Ending Homelessness Act!
Find out how to contact your members of Congress at: https://tinyurl.com/yb9goyt6
Learn more about the Housing is Infrastructure Act at: https://tinyurl.com/4582mfaf
Learn more about the Ending Homelessness Act at: https://tinyurl.com/mzj2mndr