Last week the House Committee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) dealt a debilitating blow to affordable housing. But despite its significant funding cuts, GOP committee leaders intend to stand by their 2016 Appropriations Bill.
Rebekah King, with National Housing Conference, says the proposed bill “deeply underfunds public housing capital needs” and diverts funds away from the National Housing Trust Fund. And ThinkProgress adds that this trust fund is the only resource dedicated solely to preventing people at risk from becoming homeless.
According to NHC, already three out of four families don’t receive the housing assistance they qualify for, and the new bill would do nothing to address these or other unmet needs, including new housing for the elderly and disabled.
With more than a fourth of renting households paying over half their income for housing and homelessness on the rise, our leaders should focus on legislation to effectively end homelessness, not make housing less affordable.
Insist that the Senate reject THUD’s proposed Appropriations Bill.
We, the undersigned, are opposed to any proposal that would make housing less affordable and put a heavier burden on the homeless and families struggling to make rent.
ThinkProgress reports that a recent Joint Center for Housing study revealed the following disturbing results:
...more than a quarter of households who rent paid more than half of their incomes for housing between 2001 and 2011. In 2012, over 80 percent of households with an annual income under $15,000 had to pay over 30 percent of their paychecks for housing. Adding to this housing affordability squeeze, extremely low-income renters have been forced to compete for a shrinking stock of affordable and available units due to sequestration and current funding levels for housing assistance.
As the state of Utah is showing, homelessness negatively affects us all, and it is more costly than providing everyone with a decent home. According to Policy.Mic “Salt Lake City has calculated that it costs about $20,000 a year to serve homeless people the traditional way and only $8,000 a year to give them housing.”
If meeting budget is really THUD’s concern, then it should take a tip from Utah and make housing more affordable and put an end to homelessness.
We request that the Senate reject THUD’s 2016 Appropriations Bill for a more housing-friendly alternative.
Thanks for your time.
