FROM THE NATIONAL HOUSING TRUST FUND CAMPAIGN

Senator Boxer Cosponsors National Housing Trust Fund Bill

SCANPH members from Southern California participated in discussions with HCD Director Lynn Jacob to develop recommendations for Governor Schwarzenegger on securing a permanent funding source for affordable housing.

(as reported by the California Housing Law Project in Framing the Issues)

(as reported by the National Low Income Housing Coalition in Memo to Members)

Senator Specter Calls for Hearing on the National Housing Trust Fund

In a letter dated March 4, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) asked Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL), Chair and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, to hold a hearing on S. 2523, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 (NAHFT).

(from January 11, 2008, Memo to Members, newsletter of the National Low Income Housing Coalition)

Advocates are gearing up to prevent the loss of as many as 500,000 project-based Section 8 apartments nationwide in FY08, the current fiscal year. The FY08 HUD spending bill provided only $6.14 billion in funding for project-based renewals. HUD estimates that $8.1 billion will be needed during the current fiscal year to provide a full 12 months of funding to renew these contracts.

On Dec. 19, Congress passed a fiscal year 2008 omnibus appropriations bill that included 12 of the 13 federal spending bills, including Transportation-HUD. The President is expected to sign the bill following a congressional compromise that largely met the Administration's budget request and included war funding.

 

LA City Council Members Eric Garcetti, Herb Wesson and Jan Perry Sign On to Housing LA's 3-Point Plan

The National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) Campaign has issued a response to the Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) issued on October 9 by the Executive Office of the President. The SAP opposed enactment of H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007.

 

Despite threats of a veto by the Administration, the House of Representatives went forward and passed the FY2008 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies conference report, including the 2008 budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The House voted with bipartisan support 270-147, a strong majority but just a few votes short of the 2/3rd's necessary to override the veto threat.

The Office of Governor Schwarzenegger has released legislative updates confirming that he has signed three of our top four legislative bills (SB 2, SB 586, and AB 927) while vetoing one (SB 851), and signed a bill opposed by affordable housing advocates (AB 1053) as this year's state legislative session draws to a close.

The Governor signed these bills which were among the top priorities for this year:

Congress will soon be finalizing HUD appropriations legislation for 2008, and it must resolve two key issues with respect to Section 8 vouchers: how much money to provide to renew existing vouchers; and how to distribute those funds among the 2,400 state and local housing agencies that administer the program.

Legislative update provided by Enterprise Community Partners.

On Wednesday, Sept. 12, the Senate approved its fiscal year 2008 Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill (S. 1789) by a vote of 88-7. The bill did not include major changes from the Committee-passed version. The bill must now go to conference with the House, which passed its bill in July. The President has threatened to veto funding bills that exceed his proposals. If this happens, it would take a two-thirds vote in each body to reject a presidential veto.

Legislative Recap Provided by Housing California

The California Legislature finally ended their 2007 session with a whimper around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, September 12, 2007. By that point, bleary-eyed legislators were voting on measures without knowing their content, and exhausted lobbyists slumped against walls outside the chambers.

After Senate Republicans provided the one needed vote to pass the stalled state budget to Governor Schwarzenegger, the fiscal committees within the California Legislature moved into action to make some quick decisions on the over the eight hundred budget bills that must be acted upon by September 14, the end of the current session.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness has published a Policy Guide to help policymakers and advocates understand federal programs and policies regarding housing and homelessness.

Congressional co-sponsors for the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Bill must sign on by September 4. The National Housing Trust Fund Campaign is seeking additional co-sponsors for H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007, which would establish a trust fund with dedicated sources of revenue for the production, preservation and rehabilitation of 1.5 million affordable homes for low income people.

Housing Long Beach is a broad based coalition, formed in 2002, that seeks to preserve and increase the supply of affordable housing for Long Beach’s residents. Housing LB members include community based organizations, faith based groups, social service providers, affordable housing developers and LB residents.

Notable accomplishments of Housing LB are:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has directed the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) and LAHD General Manager Mercedes Marquez to complete the administration’s five-year comprehensive citywide affordable housing strategy by October of this year. The Mayor also directed Marquez to begin implementation of the recommendations contained in City Controller Laura Chicks’ audit of affordable housing released earlier this month.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez unveiled his approach to Prop. 1C's infill funding with amendments to AB 1053 on June 1, 2007. It is markedly different from SB 46, which is the Senate's vehicle for allocating the funds.

SB 46 divides the $850 million into two programs, one is an existing brownfield clean-up program, CALReUSE, and the other is a new public infrastructure/home development program at HCD (the California Department of Housing and Community Development).

In contrast, AB 1053 scatters the funds among five programs:

PROMISE, the top priority for the Homes to End Homelessness Coalition, was funded by the legislature at $4 million on June 4. The budget conference committee agreed to the Senate funding for "Reducing Recidivism Strategies" within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation budget. This new program will provide supportive homes for approximately 225 mentally ill parolees exiting the state prison system.