NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel will testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs at a hearing, “Building Consensus to Address Housing Challenges,” on Wednesday, April 26, at 10 am ET. Learn more about the hearing and watch the livestream at: https://bit.ly/43VhORW
Diane’s testimony will highlight important bipartisan legislation championed by NLIHC’s Opportunity Starts at Home and HoUSed campaigns. The Opportunity Starts at Home (OSAH) campaign is a long-term, multi-sector campaign aimed at bringing together advocates from across sectors to push for federal resources to meet the affordable housing needs of people with the lowest incomes. The HoUSed campaign focuses on advancing long-term solutions to the housing crisis and achieving housing justice. Diane will testify about the importance of two bipartisan pieces of legislation that are foundational to achieving the OSAH and HoUSed campaigns goals: the “Eviction Crisis Act” and the “Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act.” If enacted, these two bills would provide essential housing support to low-income families nationwide.
The Eviction Crisis Act was introduced in the 117th Congress by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Rob Portman (R-OH). If passed, the bill would increase housing stability among the nation’s lowest-income households by creating a new national Emergency Assistance Fund (EAF), a permanent program to stabilize households experiencing an economic shock before it can lead to housing instability and homelessness, which often require more prolonged, extensive, and expensive housing assistance. In addition to the EAF, the Eviction Crisis Act would authorize grants to support landlord-tenant community courts, which offer mediation services to avoid the high cost of eviction and create a national database to track formal and informal evictions, helping researchers and policymakers better understand the breadth of the eviction crisis and craft solutions.
Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Todd Young (R-IN) will soon re-introduce the Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act (FSOVA) in the 117th Congress to assist 250,000 families with young children in moving to affordable housing in neighborhoods of their choice. Researchers have found that children’s chances for future success are highly context-dependent, an effect that can accumulate over time. Under the FSOVA, voucher recipients would receive a customized approach to essential mobility services such as case management and counseling to utilize their vouchers in neighborhoods of their choosing, including neighborhoods with access to resources like higher performing schools, reliable public transit, and well-paying jobs.
The full list of hearing witnesses will include:
- Diane Yentel, president and CEO of NLIHC
- Lou Tisler, executive director of the National NeighborWorks Association
- Vanessa Brown Calder, director of opportunity and family policy studies at the Cato Institute
Learn more about the hearing and watch the live stream at: https://bit.ly/43VhORW