The National League of Cities (NLC) announced on August 16 that it has joined the Opportunity Starts at Home Steering Committee. Through the campaign’s Steering Committee, NLC will work to involve its member cities more directly in advocating for federal policy solutions to the nation’s shortage of affordable homes for the lowest income families.
NLC joins the campaign’s other steering committee members: NLIHC, National Alliance to End Homelessness, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Make Room, Catholic Charities USA, Children’s HealthWatch, Children’s Defense Fund, Community Catalyst, Food Research & Action Center, NAACP, National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Education Association, and UnidosUS.
“America’s housing crisis is worsening as housing prices continue to rise while wages stay flat,” said NLC President Mark Stodola in a press release about NLC’s participation in the campaign. “Research has shown that there’s not a single city, county or state where a worker earning minimum wage can afford a two-bedroom rental by working a standard 40-hour week. We must act now so America’s cities can continue to be the strength of our nation, with affordable housing that contributes to the economic vitality of our communities.”
“City leaders cannot close the housing affordability gap on our own,” said Councilmember Gyna Bivens of Ft. Worth, Texas, and chair of NLC’s Community and Economic Development Federal Advocacy Committee. “We need Congress to prioritize affordable housing and work with local partners to coordinate federal housing resources.”
NLC was founded in 1924 by a small number of state municipal leagues that recognized the need for a national organization to strengthen local government. Now more than 1,600 cities, towns, and villages of all sizes are NLC members and another 18,000 communities participate through their state municipal leagues. NLC is a founding partner of Mayors & CEOs for Housing Investment, a coalition of local governments and business leaders dedicated to advancing public-private partnerships that tackle affordable housing and homelessness and actively oppose federal funding cuts.
Read the NLC press release at: https://bit.ly/2MxTrFb
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