Join NLIHC and advocates across the nation today for a Valentine’s Day-themed Day of Action to urge your senators and representatives to ensure that the Build Back Better Act’s historic investments in rental assistance, public housing, and the Housing Trust Fund remain in any budget reconciliation package.
Your advocacy is needed!
We encourage all advocates to participate by emailing and calling your senators and representatives and posting on social media today using the hashtags #HomeIsWhereTheHeartIs, #ShowHousingLove, and #BuildBackBetterAct. Remember to tag your members of Congress!
NLIHC’s HoUSed #BuildBackBetter Advocacy Toolkit includes talking points, sample op-eds, and social media messages that advocates can use.
Background
After President Biden announced his strategy of advancing and enacting a scaled-back version of the economic recovery package, the Wall Street Journal and CNN reported that housing investments may be cut. Parts of the bill that do not make it into a scaled-back version could be repackaged into stand-alone bills. But enacting such stand-alone bills would require support from all Senate Democrats and at least 10 Senate Republicans, as well as separate floor time during an election year, ensuring virtually no chance of enactment this year.
It is critical that advocates continue to urge members of Congress to protect and advance the bill’s historic investments in rental assistance, public housing, and the Housing Trust Fund as part of any reconciliation bill that advances.
The House-passed Build Back Better Act includes funding for NLIHC’s top priorities:
- $25 billion to expand rental assistance to more than 300,000 households;
- $65 billion to preserve public housing for its 2.5 million residents; and
- $15 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund to build and preserve over 150,000 affordable, accessible homes for households with the lowest incomes.
As homelessness increases and millions of the lowest-income renters struggle to stay housed, we cannot let Congress miss this moment of opportunity.
Take Action Today!
- Email and call your senators and representatives and tell them why investments in rental assistance, public housing, and the Housing Trust Fund are critical to your community and why they must remain in any budget reconciliation package. Breaking housing investments off into a separate bill is unacceptable.
- Post on social media between 12pm and 2pm ET using the hashtags #HomeIsWhereTheHeartIs, #ShowHousingLove, and #BuildBackBetterAct and tag your senators and representatives on social media! Use NLIHC’s HoUSed #BuildBackBetter Advocacy Toolkit, which includes talking points, sample op-eds, and social media messages.
Thank you for your advocacy!