CLPHA Advocacy

Over the past weekend of March 21, we asked CLPHA members to sign onto a letter to be sent to congressional leadership asking for emergency funding and longer-term preservation resources for public housing and housing vouchers in a COVID-19 stimulus package.

Sign on deadline for the letter has been extended. Negotiations for a third supplemental economic stimulus legislative package continue. The House Democrats under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi recently unveiled their separate stimulus package, and the possibility of a fourth economic stimulus legislative package is also being discussed.

Therefore, CLPHA is calling on members to re-double efforts to ensure our funding and regulatory relief requests are considered by Congress.

Specifically, CLPHA asks members to:

1. Sign-on to the letter sent this past weekend, if you have not already done so
2. Send a letter to your Members of Congress and ask them to support including emergency funding and longer-term preservation resources for public housing and housing vouchers in the next COVID-19 economic stimulus legislation. (see attached form letter)
3. Ask your Members of Congress to urge the House and Senate Leadership to include emergency funding and longer-term preservation resources for public housing and housing vouchers in the next COVID-19 economic stimulus legislation.

BACKGROUND

HOUSE:

The Democratic proposal spearheaded by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) unveiled on March 23, HR 6379, the “Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act” introduced by Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY), includes housing-related provisions in two main sections, Division A—Third Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020, and Division I—Financial Services, Title I—Protecting Consumers, Renters, Homeowners and People Experiencing Homelessness. Division I wholly taken from HR 6321, “Financial Protections and Assistance for America’s Consumers, States, Businesses, and Vulnerable Populations Act” was also introduced on March 23 by House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). Highlights from the Speaker’s package include:

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD) – $158.827 billion

Management and Administration – $20 million to support activities by the Administrative Support Offices and Program Offices to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. Funding would also support program administration and oversight for the $158.8 billion in emergency assistance provided to state, local, and tribal governments and housing authorities through this Act.

Tenant-Based Rental Assistance – $1.5 billion to allow public housing agencies (PHAs) to respond to coronavirus and the ability to keep over 2.2 million families stably housed even when facing a loss of income. Allows PHAs the flexibility necessary for the safe and effective administration of these funds while maintaining fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards, and environmental protections.

Public Housing Operating Fund – $720 million for PHAs to carry out coronavirus response for the operation and management of almost 1 million public housing units. Allows PHAs the flexibility necessary for the safe and effective administration of these funds while maintaining fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards, and environmental protections.

Native American Programs – $350 million to address the needs of Indian tribes and tribally designated housing entities in preventing, responding to, and preparing for coronavirus. This includes $250 million in formula funding through the Native American Housing Block Grants program and $100 million in imminent threat grants through the Indian Community Development Block Grant program.

Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS – $130 million to maintain operations, rental assistance, supportive services, and other necessary actions to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on low-income persons with HIV/AIDS.

Community Development Block Grant – $15 billion for coronavirus response and to mitigate the impacts in our communities: up to $8 billion to be distributed by formula to current grantees, $5 billion awarded directly to States, based on public health needs and other factors, and the remainder to be awarded on a rolling basis via a formula that prioritizes the risk of transmission of coronavirus, number of coronavirus cases, and economic and housing market disruptions resulting from coronavirus. The legislation also waives the public services cap to allow communities to respond to the impacts of the pandemic.

Homeless Assistance Grants – $5 billion for Emergency Solutions Grants to address the impact of coronavirus among individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and to support additional homeless assistance, prevention, and diversion activities to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic.

Emergency Rental Assistance – $100 billion to provide emergency assistance to help low-income renters at risk of homelessness avoid eviction due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Housing Assistance Fund – $35 billion for State housing finance agencies to provide housing or utility assistance to individuals and families to prevent foreclosure, eviction, mortgage delinquency, or loss of housing or critical utilities as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Assisted Housing Stability – A total of $1.1 billion for HUD multi-family housing programs to prevent, prepare for and respond to coronavirus and ensure the continuation of rental contracts and necessary support services, including:

• Project-Based Rental Assistance – $1 billion;
• Section 202 Housing for the Elderly – $75 million; and
• Section 811 Housing for Persons with Disabilities – $25 million.

Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity – $7 million to address fair housing issues resulting from coronavirus. This includes $4 million for the Fair Housing Assistance Program and $3 million for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program.

DOT and HUD Oversight –

Inspectors General – $10 million total for the DOT and HUD Inspectors General to conduct audits and investigations to ensure transparency and efficiency within the agencies as they prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.

SENATE:

The CARES Act, the third supplemental economic stimulus legislative package offered by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, contains the following provisions for HUD:

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT – $17.4 billion

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) – $10 billion. CDBG is a flexible program that provides communities and states with funding to provide a wide range of resources to address COVID-19, such as services for senior citizens, the homeless, and public health services. Funding will be distributed using formula.

Homeless Assistance Grants – $4 billion. These funds will enable state and local governments to address coronavirus among the homeless population. These grants, in combination with additional waiver authority, will provide effective, targeted assistance to contain the spread of coronavirus among homeless individuals. These grants will also provide state and local governments with homelessness prevention funding for individuals and families who would otherwise become homeless due to coronavirus.

Tenant-Based Rental Assistance – $1.25 billion. These funds will preserve Section 8 voucher rental assistance for seniors, the disabled, and low-income working families, who will experience loss of income from the coronavirus.

Public Housing Operating Fund – $685 million. These funds will provide Public Housing Agencies with additional operating assistance to make up for reduced tenant rent payments as well as to help contain the spread of coronavirus in public housing properties.

Native American Programs – $300 million. These funds will be used to prevent homelessness due to lost income from the coronavirus, as well as to contain the spread of coronavirus on tribal lands. These programs provide flexibility to local tribal governments and Tribally-Designated Housing Entities to respond to local conditions and needs.

Housing Opportunities for Person with Aids (HOPWA) – $65 million. HOPWA is dedicated to the housing needs of people living with HIV/AIDS by giving grants to local communities, states, and nonprofit organizations for projects that benefit low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS and their families.

Project-Based Rental Assistance – $1 billion. This additional funding will make up for reduced tenant payments as a result of coronavirus. Preserving this critical housing assistance will prevent low-income families and individuals from being at risk of homelessness.

Section 202 Housing for the Elderly – $50 million. These funds will maintain housing stability and services for low-income seniors. Seniors are particularly at risk from the coronavirus.

Section 811 Housing for Persons with Disabilities – $15 million. This additional funding will make up for reduced tenant payments as a result of coronavirus.

Fair Housing – $2.5 million for additional fair housing enforcement.

HUD Administrative Expenses – $50 million. These funds will ensure that HUD’s programs are able to continue serving low-income vulnerable populations, while also providing states and local governments with resources to contain and respond to the coronavirus.

HUD Inspector General – $5 million. Funding for the HUD Inspector General to provide oversight and ensure funds provided are used for lawful purposes.

CLPHA joined with industry colleagues NAHRO, PHADA, and the MTW Collaborative today to send a statement to House and Senate Committee leadership urging their support for the ACC contract language included in the Senate’s FY20 THUD Appropriations bill. 

Because HUD’s proposed revisions to the ACC contain some provisions that are problematic and were not resolved during a joint industry meeting with PIH Assistant Secretary Hunter Kurtz and HUD staff, the four groups remain concerned that without the Senate appropriations language, HUD’s new ACC will not meet the standards set in the Housing Act of 1937 and the current ACC.  

ACTION:

As members of the House and Senate Appropriations committee negotiate the final THUD appropriations bill, it is imperative that CLPHA members contact their Senators and Representatives and urge them to support the Senate’s language on the ACC.

If your Senators or Representatives are appropriators (see the list below) it is critical that CLPHA members contact them this week and ask them to support the Senate’s THUD Appropriations language on the ACC.

If you have questions about this action alert or the current status of the ACC, please contact CLPHA’s Legislative Director Gerard Holder at gholder@clpha.org.

Members of the Appropriations Committees

HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

The House of Representatives may vote as soon as next week on bipartisan legislation to permanently authorize HUD’s Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.

The bill – the “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act” – includes key reforms to the CDBG-DR program to help ensure that federal disaster recovery efforts reach all impacted households.

The bill was introduced by Representatives Al Green (D-TX) and Ann Wagner (R-MO) and passed out of the House Financial Services Committee this summer with unanimous support.

CDBG-DR provides states and communities with flexible, long-term recovery resources needed to rebuild affordable housing and infrastructure after a disaster. By formally authorizing the program, the bill would help ensure the process is administered consistently and that dollars can flow more quickly to communities in need. In addition, the bill includes important measures to ensure that scarce resources are targeted to families and communities with the greatest needs.

For more information on these important measures please see the fact sheet from our colleagues at the Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition.

As a member of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, CLPHA is supporting NLIHC's Our Homes, Our Votes campaign to ensure the issue of housing affordability in America is front and center during the the October 15 presidential debate.

The campaign is urging CNN, The New York Times, and the moderators of the next debate—Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett, and Marc Lacey—to ask the candidates about the most important issue impacting our economic wellbeing, health, educational success, and so much more – affordable homes.

Presidential candidates have released significant plans and proposals to address the country’s housing affordability crisis and are talking about these plans on the campaign trail like never before. Help us build the momentum and elevate housing affordability as a priority issue!

Sign Your PHA on the Letter Today

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is leading an effort in the Senate to boost FY20 funding for public housing. His office has asked CLPHA for help in encouraging other Senators to sign onto the letter to the Appropriations Committee requesting full funding of the Public Housing Operating Fund at 100 percent proration, $5 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund, and $200 million for the Choice Neighborhoods program.

The following messages are being sent to other U.S. Senators:

PUBLIC HOUSING:

Sen. Menendez is inviting other Senators to sign a Dear Colleague letter in support of the Public Housing Operating Fund and the Public Housing Capital Fund. The letter requests full funding of the Public Housing Operating Fund at 100 percent proration and $5 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund. The Operating Fund provides the subsidies necessary to cover the difference between the rents paid by residents and the operating costs of the property. According to HUD, their request represents a 54 percent proration of formula eligibility for Operating Funds and eliminates the Capital Fund.

Please encourage your Senators to sign on by contacting Erika Calderon at Erika_Calderon@menendez.senate.gov.

CHOICE NEIGHBORHOODS:

Sen. Menendez is inviting other Senators to sign a Dear Colleague letter in support of $200 million for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Choice Neighborhoods program.

The Choice Neighborhoods program holds great promise as a way to improve economic opportunity, reduce concentrated poverty, and revitalize distressed communities.  The program’s targeting of local community planning and implementation generates a ripple effect, attracting new private investment to the revived communities.  For Fiscal Year’s 2010-2015, the program leveraged outside investment at a more than seven to one ratio, bringing in an additional $3.69 billion.  The requested funding for FY 2020 would allow the Department to fund five to ten Planning and Action Grants, to be allocated through a competitive process, and six Implementation Grants.

The President’s FY20 budget eliminates funding for the Choice Neighborhoods program.

Please encourage your Senators to sign on by contacting Erika Calderon at Erika_Calderon@menendez.senate.gov.

Encourage Your Members of Congress to Write to Sec. Carson

CLPHA is hosting a member call on Friday, February 22 at 1:00 PM ET to solicit member feedback on the notice of changes to the Annual Contributions Contract (ACC) that was published on December 27. A draft of CLPHA’s comments is available here.

If you have an example of how the proposed conflict of interest policy creates inconsistencies with local or state requirements (page 6), please email Emily Warren at ewarren@clpha.org or share that information on the member call. 

A set of talking points on the proposed changes to the ACC is available here. Please encourage your members of Congress to write to HUD to express their concern about the proposed changes.

Call Details:

Date: Friday, February 22

Time: 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT

Call in number: (719) 867-1571

Passcode: 349101

RSVP for the Call

The bipartisan Congressional Public Housing Caucus, is still seeking new Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to join the Caucus. 

CLPHA conceived and helped establish the Caucus and we remain strongly committed to building its membership. The goal of the Caucus is to connect Members of Congress and their staff with key stakeholders of public and affordable housing, as well as educate them on the latest policy developments. 

ACTION:

We need your help in promoting the Caucus to Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Please reach out to your Representatives and encourage them to join the bipartisan Congressional Public Housing Caucus.  

To join, Members of Congress should contact Mark Gilbride of Rep. Stivers’ staff (225-2015; mark.gilbride@mail.house.gov) or Jennifer Shapiro of Rep. Cleaver's staff (225-4535; jennifer.shapiro@mail.house.gov).