Ensure Housing Stability
The CARES Act included $12 billion in affordable housing and homelessness resources that were an important first step, but more is needed if we are to protect our most vulnerable citizens and increase housing stability. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, homeless individuals infected by COVID-19 are twice as likely to be hospitalized, two to four times as likely to require critical care and two to three times as likely to die than the general population.1 It is vital that Congress support the recommendations proposed by the National Low Income Housing Coalition which includes:
- $11.5 billion for Emergency Solutions Grants to reduce homelessness;
- A national, uniform moratorium on evictions and foreclosures;
- $100 billion for emergency rental assistance;
- Moratorium on sweeps of homeless encampments as advised by the CDC;
- Emergency funding for public housing and other HUD housing providers;
- Access to legal services and housing counseling to protect tenants from unlawful evictions;
- $45 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund to address the severe shortage of affordable rental homes;
- $70 billion for public housing capital funds to repair and improve housing;
- Expand Housing Choice Vouchers and/or create a targeted renters’ tax credit to help families keep more of their incomes for other essentials like food, medicine, education and transportation;
- Prevent evictions by creating a new emergency assistance fund like the one proposed by Senators Michael Bennet and Rob Portman in the bipartisan “Eviction Crisis Act,” to provide short-term financial assistance and housing stabilization services; and
- Expand and reform the Low Income Housing Tax Credit as outlined in the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act.2