Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-IL) held a “Future of Housing” press conference on April 23 to celebrate the reintroduction of two bills in the U.S. House of Representatives: the “Green New Deal for Public Housing Act” (H.R. 7782, S. 4012) and the “Tenants’ Rights to Organize Act” (H.R. 5827). The Green New Deal for Public Housing proposes new grant programs to rehabilitate and upgrade public housing to decrease health hazards and improve energy-efficiency, while the Tenants’ Rights to Organize Act would protect the organizing rights of tenants with Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) and tenants living in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties. NLIHC has endorsed both bills.
Congresswoman Ramirez was joined at the press conference by supporting statewide organizations, including LUCHA, Leaders and Organizers for Tenant Empowerment (LOFTE) Network, CHA Tenant Representative, Bickerdike, Association House, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, and NLIHC’s Illinois state partner Housing Action Illinois. The event was held at LUCHA’s Passive House, the first sustainable, eco-conscious multi-family building in Illinois.
If enacted, the “Green New Deal for Public Housing Act” would repeal the Faircloth Amendment, which currently limits construction of new public housing developments. The bill would also create two grant programs aimed at modernizing existing public housing units through energy retrofits, decarbonizing units, water quality upgrades, climate adaptation and emergency disaster response, and community resiliency and sustainability.
“Today is a day of hope,” said Representative Ramirez. “We want bold, progressive, affordable, sustainable housing for everyone…[T]he ‘Tenants’ Right to Organize Act and ‘The Green New Deal for Public Housing Act’ are desperately needed now, and we are asking my colleagues around the country to sign on to the legislation because the need for housing isn’t for next week, for next year, for the next ten years…[W]e will see tents all over this country if we don’t strengthen our public housing system.”
“The Green New Deal for Public Housing is a model for all housing in our society to be zero-carbon and highly energy-efficient,” said Foluke Akanni, a housing policy organizer with Housing Action Illinois. “To make this transformation, we’ll be creating good paying jobs and addressing climate change.”
The press conference also highlighted the reintroduced “Tenants’ Right to Organize Act,” which would guarantee the right to organize for tenants utilizing HCVs and those living in LIHTC housing. Currently, only public housing tenants have a legally recognized right to organize. The bill also would expand protections to mixed-status families and those who might be ineligible for tenant-based rental assistance.
“Tenants themselves and tenant organizations bravely speak to better their lives and their communities, but they too often face retaliation and even eviction,” said Eric Sirota, director of housing justice at The Shriver Center on Poverty Law. “The ‘Tenants Right to Organize Act’ helps protect these brave tenants and brave tenant organizations.”
Read a one-pager on the “Tenants’ Right to Organize Act” here.
Read a one-pager on “The Green New Deal for Public Housing” here.
Watch a recording of the press conference here.