Housing is fundamental to every aspect of life, extending beyond basic necessities to shape economic stability, health, and opportunity. When families struggle to secure housing, it affects every aspect of their lives—from the health of mothers and children to educational success, employment stability, food security, and much more. For millions of people across the nation, housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable as the cost of living rises, with the greatest burden falling on those with the lowest incomes.
The multi-sector impacts of housing instability should not be underestimated. For people with low incomes, unaffordable housing often forces tradeoffs between paying rent and accessing necessary resources like medical care, child care, nutritious foods, and much more. The campaign led by top national organizations from a variety of sectors supports a list of effective and robust housing solutions that will solve the nation’s housing affordability crisis and ensure the everyone has an opportunity to thrive.
THE OPPORTUNITY STARTS AT HOME CAMPAIGN CALLS ON CONGRESS TO ENACT KEY LEGISLATION NECESSARY TO ADDRESS THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS.
Key Legislation for Any Bipartisan Housing Package
Below are a list of bipartisan bills the Opportunity Starts at Home supports:
Eviction Crisis Act
Any bipartisan housing package should include the “Eviction Crisis Act” (S.2182), introduced in the 117th Congress by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH). The legislation would provide emergency, short-term assistance to help stabilize households in crisis, building on lessons learned from and the infrastructure developed during the pandemic to keep families stably housed.
Evictions push families deeper into poverty, harming health outcomes, hampering educational attainment, and resulting in numerous other negative effects. When a household faces an emergency, it needs focused, short-term help,
By passing the bipartisan Eviction Crisis Act, Congress would draw on extensive experiences and insights gathered during the pandemic and create a permanent, cost-effective tool to help stabilize households before they face evictions and homelessness and reduce the harms and costs associated with evictions for individuals and communities.
Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act
Any bipartisan housing package should include the “Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act” (S.1257, H.R.3776) to connect low-income families with economic and educational opportunities. The bipartisan bill, re-introduced by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Todd Young (R-IN) and Representatives Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), would provide 250,000 new housing vouchers as well as counseling services to help low-income families with young children move to communities of their choice, including communities with high-performing schools, strong job prospects, and other essential resources.
Access to safe, stable, affordable housing is linked to nearly every quality-of-life measure, including better educational and health outcomes, racial equity, and economic mobility. A landmark study by Harvard University economist Raj Chetty demonstrates the enormous positive impact of affordable housing on upward economic mobility for children of low-income families. The Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act is a bipartisan, evidence-based initiative that would improve outcomes for low-income children by helping their families afford homes in neighborhoods of their choice.
Reforming Disaster Recovery Act
We urge you to include in any housing package bipartisan legislation to permanently authorize HUD’s long-term disaster recovery program to provide greater oversight and deeper targeting of resources. The “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act” (S.1686, H.R.5940), introduced by Representative Al Green (D-TX) and Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Susan Collins (R-ME), and others, would permanently authorize the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program and provide important safeguards and tools to help ensure that federal disaster recovery efforts reach the lowest-income and most marginalized disaster survivors. Because the program is not currently authorized, HUD must issue new rules through a Federal Register Notice whenever Congress provides long-term disaster funding, slowing the distribution of funds and preventing states and municipalities from anticipating and preparing for the receipt of funding before disasters occur.
Fair Housing Improvement Act
We encourage you to include in any housing package legislation to provide federal source-of-income protections. Before retiring in 2018, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) worked with Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) to sponsor the “Fair Housing Improvement Act” (S.1267,H.R.2846), which would expand the “Fair Housing Act” to prohibit discrimination based on source of income and military and veteran status. The bill was reintroduced in the 118th Congress by Senator Kaine and Representative Scott Peters (D-CA).
Choice in Affordable Housing Act
We urge you to include in any bipartisan housing package legislation to streamline and improve the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. For example, Congress should enact the bipartisan “Choice in Affordable Housing Act” (S.32, H.R.4606), introduced by Senators Chris
Coons (D-DE) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Representatives Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and Lori Chavez DeRemer (R-OR), to reduce inspection delays, create landlord incentives, facilitate recruitment efforts with local property owners, and expand the use of Small Area Fair Market Rents. Such changes could increase voucher holders’ housing choices and reduce programmatic barriers to help attract and retain landlords in the program. To help renters on tribal land, the bill would also increase funding to the Tribal HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program.
Yes In My Back Yard Act
A bipartisan housing package should include legislation to encourage state and local governments to reduce or eliminate restrictive zoning and land use requirements that drive up housing costs and constrict the supply of housing, especially in markets with significant growth in demand for housing. To help reduce or eliminate zoning and land use restrictions, we urge you to include in any bipartisan housing package the “Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) Act” (S.1688, H.R.3507), introduced by Senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA). The bill would require HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) grantees to report on actions taken to address zoning and land use barriers. Developers are often burdened with restrictive zoning rules that delay or prevent new housing and further restrict communities’ economic development. The YIMBY Act would cut red tape that prevents the development of affordable housing.
Yes in God’s Back Yard Act
We urge you to include in any bipartisan housing package the “Yes In God’s Back Yard Act” (S.3910), introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH). The bill helps to support faith-based organizations and colleges wanting to build and preserve affordable housing on their land and reduce barriers to the development of this housing. The bill provides technical assistance to faith-based organizations and institutions of higher education wanting to use their existing land to increase or preserve the supply of affordable rental housing. It also creates challenge grants to provide additional resources to communities that adopt policies that remove barriers to the production and preservation of affordable rental housing on property owned by faith-based organizations and institutions of higher education.
Rural Housing Service Reform Act
NLIHC supports the “Rural Housing Service Reform Act,” (S.2790) from Senators Tina Smith (D-MN) and Mike Rounds (R-SD). The bipartisan bill would improve the housing programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Housing Service (RHS) through several reforms, including decoupling rental assistance from maturing mortgages, permanently establishing the Multifamily Housing Preservation and Revitalization Demonstration (MPR), improving USDA’s Section 542 voucher program to better serve voucher holders, permanently establishing the Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Relending pilot program, and improving staff training and capacity within RHS.
Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act
To help address the dire affordable housing needs in Native communities, we urge you to include the “Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Reauthorization Act” (S.2264/H.R.6949) in any bipartisan housing package. NAHASDA is the primary federal statute governing the development, operation, and maintenance of housing in Tribal communities.
Called “the backbone of Indian housing,” NAHASDA grants can be used for affordable housing activities that primarily benefit low-income Indian families living on Indian reservations and Alaska Native communities or in other Indian areas. Since its creation, Tribes and Alaska Native governments have used Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) funding to build or acquire almost 41,500 affordable homes and restore an additional 105,000 affordable homes on Tribal lands and Alaska Native communities. Despite its crucial role, NAHASDA has not been reauthorized in a decade. As a result, its programs are in desperate need of updates, and funding has decreased by 29% when accounting for inflation, remaining at less than 2% of the overall HUD budget.
TAKE ACTION!
Please send a letter to your members of Congress TODAY and urge them to support robust housing solutions in any future bipartisan policy proposals.
Click here to see the campaign’s policy agenda.
SEND THE CAMPAIGN’S LETTER TO CONGRESS
Dear Congress,
As your constituent, I urge you to advance robust housing solutions in any future bipartisan policy proposals. The nation’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis demands urgent action by all levels of government, and it is critical that Congress work to find common ground to enact legislation to help improve the lives of the nation’s lowest-income and most marginalized households. Without sustained federal intervention, millions of renters remain at risk of eviction, which would result in a wave of homelessness that threatens lives, burdens public health systems, disrupts children’s education, jeopardizes food security, exacerbates poverty, and imposes unnecessary costs on taxpayers.
The multi-sector impacts of housing instability should not be underestimated. For people with low incomes, unaffordable housing often forces tradeoffs between paying rent and accessing necessary resources like medical care, contributing to delayed care and an increased prevalence of chronic health conditions. Affordable housing plays a pivotal role in reducing childhood poverty and bolsters the mental, physical, and academic well-being of children. Additionally, the economic benefits of affordable housing extend to the broader community, creating jobs and increasing local government revenue.
Key Legislation for Any Bipartisan Housing Package
Eviction Crisis Act
Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act
Reforming Disaster Recovery Act
Fair Housing Improvement Act
Choice in Affordable Housing Act
Yes In My Back Yard Act
Yes in God’s Back Yard Act
Rural Housing Service Reform Act
Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act
Thank you for your consideration.
These solutions are supported by the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign, for more information please see: www.opportunityhome.org.
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