On our most recent (October 12) call on “HoUSed: Universal, Stable, and Affordable Housing,” we welcomed Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY), who highlighted the advocacy needed to ensure the HoUSed campaign’s top policy priorities remain the “Build Back Better Act.”
Representative Torres led his Democratic colleagues in a Dear Colleague Letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urging the congressional leaders to maintain targeted affordable housing investments in the reconciliation package, including $90 billion to expand housing vouchers; $80 billion to address the capital repair backlog in public housing; and $37 billion to construct, preserve, and operate deeply affordable housing through the national Housing Trust Fund.
Natalie Maxwell from the National Housing Law Project (NHLP) joined to discuss a new resource from NHLP, the Poverty and Race Research Action Council, and the National Homelessness Law Center on using source of income discrimination laws to prevent evictions and increase utilization of emergency rental assistance (ERA). Reem Subei from Advocates for Basic Legal Equality and Joanna Carr from the Arizona Housing Coalition provided field updates.
NLIHC’s Sarah Gallagher and Emma Foley reported on the new guidance from Treasury on ERA recapture and reallocation, and provided updates on ERA expenditure rates as of August 31. NLIHC’s Sarah Saadian gave the latest update on the reconciliation package and shared action steps for advocates.
Our next national call will be on today, October 18 at 2:30 pm ET. We will hear about a new resource on family homelessness, provide the latest updates on Build Back Better Act negotiations, hear updates from the field, and more.
Register for the upcoming call at: tinyurl.com/ru73qan
Watch the recording and view presentation slides at: tinyurl.com/9vbmmues