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National Housing Trust Fund Campaign
****Discharge Petition Filed for NHTF**** - July 22, 2004
Before heading back to their districts for the August recess, Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT),
and Michael Capuano (D-MA) filed a motion for a discharge petition in an effort to get a vote on National Housing Trust Fund
bill (H.R. 1102). Despite having 214 co-sponsors, the bill has remained buried
in the Financial Services Committee where the leadership has refused to take it up.
The petition, when signed by a majority of Representatives, would “discharge” the NHTF bill from the committee
and bring it directly to the House floor for consideration. A signature on the
petition is not a vote for the bill itself; it would simply open the door for a vote by the full House. Signing the discharge petition, will, however, send a message that Congress needs to take action on the
affordable housing crisis in our country.
218 signatures are needed for the
discharge petition to succeed. Of the NHTF’s current 214 co-sponsors, 5
are non-voting members (representing the District of Columbia and U.S. territories). This means that if all co-sponsors
sign the petition, 9 additional signatures will be needed. This is a reachable
goal! Representatives must sign the petition in person while Congress is in session,
which means that they won’t be able to add their names until Congress reconvenes after Labor Day. This gives advocates plenty of time to contact Representatives and let them know how
important this effort is!
More information about the discharge petition, including talking points and a one-pager to share with your Representative,
is available at the NHTF campaign website.
A Look at the Campaign
Over the past year,
the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign (NHTF) has gained a lot of momentum in its drive to make quality, affordable housing
a priority issue for the federal government. Support for H.R. 1120, the House version of The National Housing Trust Fund Act,
has grown to 213 cosponsors. In April, the Senate also showed a renewed effort to resume the issue with the introduction of
S. 1411 by Senator Kerry. Although introducing the bill is largely symbolic due to the unlikelihood of it coming to the floor
for a vote during the last few months of this Congressional session, the support for it, demonstrated by 18 cosponsors, assures
us that the bill will not disappear with this session. Most important, however, is that endorsements of the bill by national
and local organizations have swelled to over 5,000! The NHTF campaign stresses that such overwhelming and increasing support
from such a broad range of groups is “vital to the success of the campaign, and is a powerful tool for convincing policymakers
to support legislation.” It is clear from these recent developments that more and more people, especially those creating
national policies, are recognizing the pressing need for quality, affordable housing and the potential crisis if that need
is not met.
About the National Housing Trust Fund
Despite our nation’s great wealth, an alarming and ever increasing disparity between wages and housing costs
has made safe, descent, and affordable housing virtually impossible for nearly half the American population. A staggering
14.3 million households are severely cost burdened, spending more than 50 percent of their income on rent;
17.3 million are moderately cost-burdened, spending 30-50 percent of their incomes on housing. Many are forced to choose between
having a roof over their heads and putting food on the table. Unfortunately, children, who constitute one-third of all persons
living in substandard housing, pay an especially high price, suffering from illness, hunger, and
poor school performance. Contrasting this situation is the reality that decent, safe, and affordable housing
increases the ability of the poor to achieve sustained economic self–sufficiency. Thus, addressing the
housing crisis is paramount to creating a better future for both American children and this nation.
Since the 1970’s, a federal housing voucher program known as Section 8 has helped fill the gap between income
and rent. However, stagnate wages, soaring rents, and a dwindling pool of affordable units has weakened Section 8’s
effectiveness. State, county and local officials have responded to this problem by creating over 170 innovative and highly
successful housing trust funds that have helped increase the availability of affordable housing. The growing housing crisis,
however, demands a large-scale response. The National Housing Trust Fund Campaign seeks to build on the success of state and
local officials by creating a federal housing trust fund. Its goal is to produce,
rehabilitate, and preserve 1.5 million units of housing over the next 10 years. Forty-five percent of
the trust fund’s money would go towards units meeting the rental needs of extremely low-income households and at least
30 percent must be used for housing that is affordable to households with incomes at the equivalent of full time prevailing
minimum wage earnings or less, all of which must remain affordable for a minimum of 50 years. The potential
economic and social impact of this campaign is unquestionable. Access to housing will help more to know the freedoms tied
to financial self-sufficiency and a $5 billion investment in a National Housing Trust Fund would create 1.8 million jobs.
Recognizing this need, 213 Representatives, from both parties, have responded by cosponsoring the bill HR 1102, the National
Housing Trust Fund Act, and 5,000 organizations have endorsed it. With such overwhelming bipartisan support,
it is imperative to continue voicing our concern for the problem and support for the remedy found in HR 1102.
Links
National Housing Trust Fund Campaign
National Housing Conference
National Low Income Housing Coalition
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