NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on April 26 at a hearing, “Building Consensus to Address Housing Challenges,” in support of bipartisan legislation to solve the affordable housing crisis.
Appearing before the Committee along with two other witnesses – Lou Tisler, executive director of the National NeighborWorks Association, and Vanessa Brown Calder, the director of opportunity and family policy studies at the Cato Institute – Diane advocated for an array of bipartisan bills designed to ensure that the lowest-income and most marginalized renters have access to stable, safe, affordable housing.
“Rents have skyrocketed, eviction filings are rising and surpassing pre-pandemic levels, and homelessness is increasing,” said Diane in her testimony. “The country’s lowest income people are struggling to stay housed and Congress’s inaction costs us all. But quick, bipartisan action by this Congress can – just as it did during the pandemic – save lives, save money, and provide housing relief for many. I urge this Committee and this Congress to act quickly and, at minimum, advance the multitude of bipartisan housing bills before us.”
Two of the bipartisan bills that Diane advocated for – both of them championed by NLIHC’s Opportunity Starts at Home and HoUSed campaigns – were re-introduced in Congress earlier this week: the “Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act,” introduced by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Todd Young (R-IN), and the “Fair Housing Improvement Act,” introduced by Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Representative Scott Peters (D-CA).
The Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act would create 250,000 new housing vouchers, paired with mobility-related services, to help low-income families with young children move to communities of their choice, including neighborhoods with high-performing schools and high-quality childcare and early education programs. Access to safe, affordable housing is linked to nearly every quality-of-life measure, including better educational and health outcomes, housing stability, racial equity, and economic mobility.
The Fair Housing Improvement Act expands housing choice by prohibiting housing discrimination by landlords on the basis of “source of income,” “military status,” and “veteran status.” While several states and localities have passed source-of-income protection laws, federal law does not provide protections against this type of discrimination, leaving half of all households with housing vouchers unprotected from discrimination.
In addition to the Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act and Fair Housing Improvement Act, Diane advocated for the bipartisan “Eviction Crisis Act.” Introduced in the last session by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Rob Portman (R-OH), the bill would create 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. 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.
“We urge this Committee and this Congress to quickly advance bipartisan housing bills that would have a measurable impact on the housing crisis,” said Diane. “Bills such as the Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act, to provide 250,000 new Housing Choice Vouchers for families with young children; the Eviction Crisis Act, to continue the success of bipartisan ERA programs; and other bipartisan bills to improve and streamline existing housing programs; build housing for people with the lowest incomes; improve oversight of federal disaster resources; and increase access to fair and affordable housing.”
Advocates can support bipartisan affordable housing legislation by urging their members of Congress to cosponsor the Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act, Fair Housing Improvement Act, and Eviction Crisis Act and ensure these bills are included in any effort to advance housing legislation this year.