CLPHA and our industry partners today sent aletter (and attachments Exhibit 1 andExhibit 2) to House and Senate Appropriations Committee members asking to include legislative language that prevents HUD from implementing unilateral changes to the ACC in the forthcoming FY23 appropriations bill. This joint industry request was made by CLPHA, the MTW Collaborative, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) and the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association (PHADA).
CLPHA and our industry partners remain concerned that HUD’s continued attempts to revise the ACC will circumvent the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), unilaterally change the contractual relationship between HUD and public housing agencies (PHAs), and strip PHAs of their ability to challenge HUD’s breach of contract actions, which PHAs have recently successfully litigated. Without the inclusion of the legislative language mentioned in our letter, we are concerned that HUD’s ability to make problematic changes to the ACC has been renewed.
This week the full House passed six appropriations bills including its version of the FY23 HUD bill. Since the Senate has not yet taken action on their bill version, we hope to have the ACC language included in the Senate bill, and we are seeking eventual conference committee action between the House and Senate to include the ACC language and committee report language.
ACTION:
We are asking housing authorities to sign and send a similar letter asking their representatives in both the House and Senate to reinstate the legislative language regarding the ACC in the General Provisions section of the FY23 HUD appropriations legislation.
Negotiations and progress on enacting Build Back Better legislation have reached an impasse, and Senate opponents to the bill, as written and passed by the House, have indicated they prefer a slimmed down, reduced funding bill.
Consequently, CLPHA has been made aware that funding for housing programs is, once again, at serious risk of being removed from the Build Back Better Act.
The housing investments in this economic recovery package is expected to help make transformational improvements in the lives of low-income and vulnerable Americans and in our communities.
Last week, CLPHA and other national organizations advocating for public housing and related programs sent a letter to the House and Senate leaders asking that housing be retained in Build Back Better or any related reconciliation vehicle.
The housing investments in this economic recovery package are expected to help make transformational improvements in the lives of low-income and vulnerable Americans and in our communities.
ACTION:
We are asking housing authorities and housing organizations to sign on to a similar letter to Congressional leaders urging them to retain funding for the Public Housing Capital Fund and Housing Choice Vouchers in the Build Back Better legislation.
CLPHA has been made aware that funding for housing is at serious risk of being removed from the Build Back Better Act under consideration in the budget reconciliation negotiations currently underway in Congress and the White House.
The House Financial Services Committee on September 14 provided $327 billion in funding for affordable housing and community development programs to be included in the President’s Build Back Better Act. The housing investments in this economic recovery package is expected to help make transformational improvements in the lives of low-income and vulnerable Americans and in our communities.
The negotiations are on a fast track and taking place at the highest levels between the House and Senate leadership, key members of Congress, and the White House. We understand Congress and the White House have not heard from housing stakeholders on the importance of keeping housing in the legislation.
We have been told that the next 48 hours are critical to keeping housing in the legislation.
Since housing is very much on the chopping block, we encourage CLPHA members to:
Reach out to your representatives in the House and Senate and ask them to contact their leadership and express support for retaining the housing provisions in the Build Back Better Act.
We cannot overstate how important it is for you to contact your Congresspersons and Senators and have them communicate with their Leadership and the White House that
HOUSING MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE BUILD BACK BETTER ACT!
Important Talking Points Include:
In January 2020, HUD) reported at least 580,466 people were homeless, which represents a 2.2 percent increase from 2019. Despite these growing needs, only 1 in 5 eligible families currently receive assistance.
Public housing and Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers play a critical role in our nation's infrastructure and social safety net, providing families with a stable home and assisting them in opportunities for upward mobility.
Across the United States, public housing provides almost 1 million units of housing to over 1.8 million people, including 800,000 children, and more than half the population in public housing is elderly and disabled.
The 2.3 million Section 8 housing choice vouchers house an additional 5.2 million people including 2.2 million children. In many cities and towns across the nation, seniors, veterans, persons with disabilities and families with children rely on public housing, now perhaps more than ever before. In some instances, no other source of housing could take its place more readily or affordably.
An investment in public housing capital needs will spur local economic growth, as occurred with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that 99.9% of all public housing ARRA capital funds were obligated and expended under accelerated time frames. With $4 billion in capital funds, researchers found that agencies invested in over 245,000 affordable units, created 26 jobs for every $1 million spent on capital projects, and generated nearly $12.5 billion in national economic activity.1
1 Public Housing Stimulus Funding: A Report on the Economic Impact of Recovery Act Capital Improvements, Commissioned by PHADA, CLPHA and NAHRO with funding from the Housing Authority Insurance (HAI) Group, 2011.
You can also click here to watch a webinar site tour that shows CLPHA members how to create website accounts for themselves and provides an overview of the site's functionality.
