Urge Congress to Reject these Harmful Proposals Today!
Housing benefits are under attack.
President Trump’s FY19 budget request – unveiled today – slashes federal housing benefits that help millions of low income seniors, people with disabilities, families with children, low-wage workers, veterans, and other vulnerable people afford their homes. The proposal includes severe funding cuts, as well as harmful rent increases and arbitrary work requirements that would leave even more low income people without a stable home, undermining their ability to live with dignity and climb the economic ladder to achieve financial security.
Background
Overall, the Administration proposes to cut HUD by an astounding $8.8 billion or 18.3-percent compared to the 2017 enacted levels. In an addendum stemming from the bipartisan budget agreement, the president suggests that $2 billion above his request could be added back in for a final proposed cut of $6.8 billion. Such a reduction could lead to at least 200,000 housing vouchers being lost, as well as the elimination of public housing resources and funding used by state and local governments to address their pressing housing and community development needs. Read NLIHC’s analysis of President Trump’s budget request and see our comparision budget chart. Further analysis will be available in tomorrow’s Memo to Members and Partners newsletter.
The administration also proposes to cut housing benefits by increasing rents on low income families receiving federal housing assistance and by allowing housing providers to broadly impose administratively burdensome and wasteful work requirements, without sufficient resources to help people gain the skills they need for well-paying jobs. HUD suggests that it will send its proposal to cut housing benefits to Congress in March, but we expect it will be substantially similar to draft legislation that was leaked in recent weeks. Learn more about President Trump’s draft legislation to cut housing benefits, how cutting housing benefits would increase homelessness and housing poverty, and how it impacts your state.
Learn more about the president’s budget request on a webinar presented by the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF) on February 20 at 3:00 pm ET. Register here.
Take Action
Members of Congress need to hear from you! Here are three steps you can take now:
- Sign two national letters urging Congress to reject the president’s harmful proposals. Please share these letters and encourage organizations in your network to sign on by March 16.
One letter – READ AND SIGN HERE – urges Congress to provide the highest level of funding possible for affordable housing and community development programs.
The other letter – READ AND SIGN HERE – asks Congress to oppose any proposals that would cut housing benefits by increasing rents and imposing work requirements on current and future tenants.
- Call your members of Congress and urge them to SUPPORT full funding for affordable housing programs and OPPOSE any proposals that increase rents and impose arbitrary, administratively burdensome, and wasteful work requirements on federal housing assistance programs.
- Begin planning to participate in the Our Homes, Our Voices National Housing Week of Action, May 1-8.
Last year, NLIHC – together with our members, national and state partners, mayors and other elected officials, and concerned individuals across the country – hosted more than 60 rallies, press conferences, letter writing campaigns, and other events to defeat harmful federal affordable housing funding cuts and to let members of Congress know why affordable housing matters to our communities.
We will build on last year’s successes in 2018 by bringing more attention to the severe shortage of homes affordable to the lowest income people and to urge increased investments in proven solutions. Join us!
We also encourage you to join hundreds of advocates and movement-builders from across the country at NLIHC’s 2018 Housing Policy Forum: Building the Movement in Washington, DC, March 19-21. As NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel says, “All it takes is more of us – working as one – to do something extraordinary.” The Forum is filling up quickly, so register today!
Questions/Comments? Please email: [email protected]
Thank you for your advocacy – it’s more important than ever!