From the National Low Income Housing Coalition (http://www.nlihc.org):
Members of Congress are working to reach a compromise on an infrastructure package that could pass with bipartisan support. So far, however, these negotiations do not include robust investments to make housing affordable to America’s lowest-income and most marginalized households, even though President Biden and Democratic Congressional leaders have called for it.
It is critical that any infrastructure package includes the HoUSed campaign’s top priorities for the bill: an expansion of rental assistance to every eligible household; at least $70 billion to repair public housing; and at least $40 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund to build and preserve homes affordable to people with the lowest incomes.
Call your senators and representatives today and demand that the HoUSed campaign’s top priorities are included in any bipartisan infrastructure package. Find contact information:
- Senator Robert Casey: http://casey.senate.gov
- Senator Pat Toomey: http://toomey.senate.gov
- Your Representative: http://www.house.gov
Background
After weeks of negotiations, President Biden and Senator Capito (R-WV) have been unable to reach a deal on a bipartisan infrastructure package. Now, bipartisan groups of senators and representatives have stepped in to see if they can reach an agreement.
None of these bipartisan negotiations include robust investments in affordable housing. A framework for a possible compromise released yesterday by the House Problem Solvers Caucus provides $10 billion to support veteran housing, but does not include the major investments in affordable housing needed for the millions of households with the lowest incomes who struggle to pay rent and make ends meet. Details of a possible agreement from a bipartisan group of senators may be released later this week, but it too is not expected to include robust housing investments.
If the HoUSed campaign’s top infrastructure priorities are not included in any bipartisan package, the opportunity to enact these investments may be lost. Enacting a bipartisan infrastructure bill without affordable housing investments could make it more difficult for Congress to enact a separate economic recovery bill with the remaining pieces of President Biden’s “American Jobs Plan,” including the president’s proposal to provide $318 billion in housing investments.
Take Action
Advocates should contact their representatives and senators and to remind them that housing is infrastructure, and urge them to include the HoUSed campaign’s top priorities in any infrastructure package that moves forward: an expansion of rental assistance for every eligible household; $70 billion to repair public housing; and at least $40 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund to build and preserve homes affordable to people with the lowest incomes.
Call your senators and representatives today to demand that any infrastructure bill includes the HoUSed campaign’s top infrastructure priorities! You can find your members of Congress here.
Join nearly 1,000 organizations supporting these priorities by signing onto the national letter in support of the national HoUSed campaign and the bold solutions needed to end homelessness and housing poverty once and for all.
Thank you for your advocacy on the #HoUSed Campaign!
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