RESPONDING TO COVID-19: ENSURING HOUSING STABILITY
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We work closely with our federal partners at the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), and the A Call To Invest in Our Neighborhoods (ACTION) Campaign, to name a few, to help leverage our state dollars by expanding federal housing and homelessness resources that will help Arizonans struggling the most during this public health crisis. These national partners help outline the Coalition’s policy agenda; then we rely on our board and members to help narrow and localize our federal advocacy requests.
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Coronavirus Relief Legislation: A "both/and" response
- The Arizona Housing Coalition supports the NLIHC’s federal COVID-19 priorities as a comprehensive outline of additional resources that Congress must enact to ensure housing stability during this crisis. Take action here to contact your members of Congress to ask them to ensure that the next stimulus package addresses these funding priorities.
- We also echo NAEH’s petitions to lawmakers, with a special emphasis on asking our congressional members to ask HUD to cancel the 2020 Continuum of Care (CoC) Notice of Funding Availability in order to allow CoCs to focus on meeting the daunting challenges posed by the pandemic. Take action here to contact your members of Congress to ask them to ensure that the next stimulus package addresses these funding priorities.
- We agree with the ACTION Campaign’s response to the coronavirus by advocating for critical Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) statutory and regulatory measures in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
- Finally, we concur with NCRC about highlighting the important role that housing counselors, aka HUD intermediaries, play in helping households manage financial decisions. These “financial management first responders” are funded largely through HUD’s Office of Housing Counseling. Additional possible support is available through the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program, if properly funded.
While that may seem like a lot to include in the next stimulus bill, these funding priorities reflect the current “triage” status we are in as well as “preventative” long-term solutions to ensure future housing stability. Ultimately, Congress must look ahead to address the underlying systemic causes of housing instability and homelessness by 1) investing in the national Housing Trust Fund, 2) fully funding the Housing Choice Voucher program to help all eligible renters afford housing in the private market, and 3) increasing resources for public housing.
Advocacy is the heart of what we do.
At the direction of our Board of Directors and our Advocacy Committee, we closely monitor issues and policies in Washington, DC, and are ready to act to advance sound policies and laws which stem the root causes of homelessness and create more affordable housing opportunities throughout Arizona. We are proud of the power the Coalition’s voice holds at our nation's Capitol, our state capitol, and in our communities.
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National HOUSING TRUST FUND
The National Housing Trust Fund is the first new housing resource since 1974 targeted to the building, rehabilitating, preserving, and operating rental housing for extremely low-income people. We work with the National Low Income Housing Coalition to protect this new resource, and to increase funding through tax reform, housing finance reform, investments in infrastructure, and other legislative opportunities. federal housing tax credits
Low Income Housing Tax Credits The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is the largest national affordable housing program in the U.S. We support the National Low Income Housing Coalition and other national housing advocacy groups in their efforts to achieve deeper income targeting within the LIHTC program so that it better contributes to the expansion of affordable housing available to extremely low-income people. Learn more about the LIHTC program here. Renters Tax Credits Bold proposals to create refundable renters’ tax credits can help bridge the widening gap between incomes and housing costs by helping families who face impossible choices between paying rent and meeting their other basic needs, including putting groceries on the table and taking care of their health. Learn more about renters’ tax credit proposals here. housing finance reform
The Center for American Progress has developed 4 fact sheets that explain the federal government's role in housing finance, recommend core principles for reform, and provide basic information on financing for affordable rental housing and the To-Be-Announced, or TBA, Market. Their research can be found here. protecting housing funds in the federal budget
The ability of housing programs to serve low income people in need depends on federal appropriations. We monitor the federal budget process and advocate for the highest possible appropriations for HUD and USDA Rural Housing programs, while assuring sufficient funding to preserve all existing low income housing resources and prevent loss of units affordable to, or rental assistance for, extremely low income households. Our work on the federal budget is done in collaboration with the National Low Income Housing Coalition. |
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