The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released Opportunities to End Homelessness and Housing Poverty in the 116th Congress, a memo to incoming members of Congress on steps to address the lack of decent, accessible and affordable housing. The report calls on members of Congress to:
- Protect and Expand the National Housing Trust Fund
- Preserve and Increase Resources for Federal Affordable Housing Programs like LIHTC, CDBG, HOME, Public Housing Capital and Operating Funds, Section 202, Section 811, Tenant-Based Vouchers and Project-Based Rental Assistance. They also call for the creation of a renters’ tax credit and a National Housing Stabilization Fund to provide emergency assistance to poor households to prevent housing instability and homelessness.
- Ensure Federal Disaster Recovery Efforts Are Fair and Equitable
- Promote Equitable Access to Affordable Housing by the continued implementation of HUD’s Small Area Fair Market Rents and expanding the Fair Housing Act to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, and source of income (e.g., housing vouchers
- Champion Anti-Poverty Solutions like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Earned Income Tax Credit, unemployment insurance, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Affordable Care Act, Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Income, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families as well as increasing the minimum wage and targeting federal resources to communities with persistent poverty.
- Infrastructure Investment through $5 billion annually for the National Housing Trust Fund, 50,000 new Housing Choice Vouchers and at least $5-6 billion annually to repair and rehabilitate public housing stock to preserve this asset for current tenants and future generations
- Agreement to Lift Spending Caps of the Budget Control Act of 2011 for FY 2020.
- Housing Finance Legislation that provides a minimum of $3.5 billion to the National Housing Trust Fund.
