The “American Housing and Economic Mobility Act” introduced in the House of Representatives
Urge Your Representative to Sign On!
Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) “American Housing and Economic Mobility Act” now has companion legislation in the House of Representatives, introduced yesterday by Representatives Cedric Richmond (D-LA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Elijah Cummings (D-MD). The bill proposes new solutions to the ongoing affordable housing crisis in America by expanding or improving several vital programs, including a major increase in funding to the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF) to build and preserve homes for the lowest income households in America. A video of the press conference announcing the legislation, at which NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel gave remarks, is viewable at Senator Warren’s Facebook page.
URGE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO CO-SPONSOR THE BILL!
Building support in the final days of this Congressional session will provide momentum for the bill when it is reintroduced next year.
Among the bill’s important provisions:
- Invests $445 billion to the HTF over 10 years!
- Expands the Fair Housing Act to ban housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, and source of income (protecting households who depend on Housing Choice Vouchers).
- Provides $10 billion for new competitive grants to communities that remove local barriers to housing development and work toward inclusive zoning.
- Invests $2 billion in HUD’s Indian Housing Block Grants to create 200,000 new affordable homes on tribal lands.
- Expands USDA rental housing programs in rural communities by $523 million.
- Provides $25 billion to the Capital Magnet Fund to further investment through Community Development Financial Institutions.
- Assists homeowners who lost significant wealth as a result the financial crisis of the Great Recession by providing $2 billion for households underwater on their mortgages.
NLIHC enthusiastically supports this bold bill, applauding its major new investments in the national Housing Trust Fund. More than 1,880 organizations nationwide have signed on to a letter calling on Congress to expand the HTF. Join these efforts and endorse the National Housing Trust Fund campaign today!
View NLIHC’s press statement on the introduction of the “American Housing and Economic Mobility Act” here.