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ACTION ALERT: KEEP HOUSING FUNDING IN BUILD BACK BETTER ACT

Date Published: 
October 6th, 2021
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.
CLPHA Program(s): 
Legislative & Policy
Topic(s): 
Housing Is Infrastructure
Resource type(s): 
Action Alert
CLPHA Advocacy

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