NLIHC president and CEO Diane Yentel testified on June 5 before the New Democrat Coalition Housing Task Force on the solutions to our nation’s affordable rental housing crisis. The Housing Task Force co-chairs, Representatives Denny Heck (D-WA), Katie Hill (D-CA), and Ben McAdams (D-UT), focused their questions on ways the federal government can encourage better local land-use and zoning regulations, facilitate affordable financing, decrease the cost of building materials, and create a pipeline of skilled laborers.
The New Democrat Coalition is a congressional membership organization consisting of more than 100 centrist Democrats who support an agenda that the coalition describes as "pro-growth, pro-innovation, and fiscally responsible." The New Democrat Coalition Housing Task Force is focused on addressing the nation’s need for affordable housing, which it describes as “paramount to the economic security of American families.” The task force calls the high cost of housing in the U.S. “the single biggest squeeze on household budgets, and a significant drag on the economy. It is forcing Americans to live on the street, reducing GDP by trillions of dollars and substantially reducing Americans’ retirement savings.” The Task Force seeks to “pursue solutions that address housing insecurity.”
In her testimony, Diane called for increasing federal resources for the national Housing Trust Fund to address the severe shortage of rental homes affordable to the lowest-income households. She also called for expanding rental assistance, funding public housing repairs, enforcing and expanding fair housing rights, and creating a new federal program to help prevent families experiencing a financial shock from spiralizing into evictions and homelessness.
Read Diane’s testimony at: https://tinyurl.com/woaxmmw
Watch the New Democrat Coalition Housing Task Force hearing at: http://bit.ly/2Re1jvF