The House Financial Services Committee will vote – possibly on Wednesday of this week - on H.R. 5187, “The Housing Is Infrastructure Act,” which was introduced by Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA). Advocates with representatives serving on the committee should contact them to urge them to vote for the bill.
NLIHC supports this legislation, which would make robust investments in the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and public housing. H.R. 5187 provides a one-year investment of $5 billion for the HTF and $70 billion to address all of the capital backlog needs of public housing. NLIHC is committed to working with advocates and congressional leaders to ensure that any infrastructure package enacted by Congress includes at least $5 billion for the HTF and $70 billion for the public housing capital fund in order to increase and preserve the supply of affordable, accessible homes for people with the lowest incomes.
As included in testimony NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel gave before the House Financial Services Committee on April 30, 2019, an infrastructure package provides a unique opportunity to address one of the most critical issues facing extremely low-income families today – the lack of decent, accessible, and affordable housing. The underlying cause of our nation’s affordable housing crisis is the shortage of homes affordable and available to the poorest seniors, people with disabilities, families with children, and others. In many communities, the lack of affordable, accessible housing for the lowest-income households has led to increased evictions, and in worst cases, homelessness.
In addition to contacting your member of Congress to vote for this bill, please sign onto a national letter urging Congress to include in any infrastructure bill at least $5 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and $70 billion to repair public housing. Sign the letter at: https://sforce.co/2S4u3rm
A list of House Financial Services Committee members is at: https://bit.ly/3bSQskw
NLIHC’s letter of support of the bill is at: https://bit.ly/2vPc9Bt
More information about HTF funding is on page 3-12 of NLIHC’s 2019 Advocates’ Guide.
More information about the HTF program is on page 3-1 of NLIHC’s 2019 Advocates’ Guide.
More information about public housing is on page 4-25 of NLIHC’s 2019 Advocates’ Guide.