A group of 14 Democratic senators led by Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) sent a letter on August 9 to President Biden urging his administration to include critically needed homeless assistance funding as part of its supplemental appropriations request. The letter, which was endorsed by NLIHC, expresses appreciation for the administration’s strong leadership and commitment to providing homeless assistance funding and for its championing of investments like those provided through the “American Rescue Plan Act” that helped keep millions of families in their homes during the pandemic. The letter addresses the urgent need for robust funding for affordable housing and homeless assistance programs, particularly as pandemic-era homeless prevention programs end and state and local homeless assistance resources are depleted.
Specifically, the letter urges the White House to include in any supplemental spending request:
- $5 billion in new Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV), which could provide housing for approximately 70,000 more households experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness.
- $580 million for the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program – the only federal program that provides comprehensive homeless assistance funding for outreach, frontline staff, rapid rehousing, rental assistance, and emergency shelter.
- $1 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF), which could help develop and rehabilitate about 9,000 units of deeply affordable housing for individuals currently experiencing homelessness or who are most at-risk of experiencing homelessness.
“Collectively, these funds would help house tens of thousands of households and enable states and localities to expand homeless outreach and shelter services,” the senators state in the letter. “They would directly support individuals and families experiencing homelessness, ease the current burden on local communities, and help jumpstart housing construction for the lowest-income households.”
Additional signatories to the letter include Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Edward Markey (D-MA).
Read the letter at: https://tinyurl.com/3awpk4t6