House Resumes Consideration of THUD Appropriations bill including damaging Fair Housing Amendments on Tuesday - June 4, 2015

Post date
June 4, 2015

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Urge Your Representative to Oppose Bill and Harmful Amendments

The House of Representatives began consideration of its FY16 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies appropriation bill on Wednesday, June 3. After a morning of debate and votes on amendments on June 4, the House has now paused its consideration of the bill, H.R. 2577, and will resume action on Tuesday, June 9 when it returns to Washington after a long weekend.

Several housing-related amendments have been considered and additional ones are expected on Tuesday.

  • Representative Al Green (D-TX) offered an amendment on behalf of Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) to strike H.R. 2577’s language transferring all funds set to flow into the National Housing Trust Fund in 2016 into the HOME program. The amendment would have also increased funding for HOME by $293 million to the President’s request level of $1.06 billion for FY16. Because the amendment increased funding for HOME without providing an equal offset in spending, the amendment was deemed out of order.
  • An amendment by Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL) to increase funding for the Section 202 program by $2.5 million, offset by a reduction to HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research, passed by voice vote.
  • An amendment by Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) to increase funding for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS by $3 million, offset by a reduction to HUD’s technology fund, passed by a voice vote.
  • An amendment offered by Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI) to cut tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) funding by $614 million, the amount the bill increases TBRA funding for FY16, failed by voice vote.

TAKE ACTION

Urge your Representative to oppose H.R. 2577. Additionally, the House will take up at least three troubling amendments on Tuesday, which advocates should urge their Representatives to oppose:

  • An amendment by Representative Steve Stivers (R-OH) to prohibit any Fair Housing Initiative Program funds to be used for the Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI). PEI grants support local, private fair housing groups’ testing, complaint intake, and investigation efforts. PEI grantees are critical to enforcement efforts for the Fair Housing Act.
  • An amendment by Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) to cut every program funded by H.R. 2577 by an additional 1%.
  • An amendment by Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) to prohibit HUD from using any funds to implement, enforce, or administer the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) final rule, or the AFFH Assessment Tool.

Please call your Representative and urge opposition to these harmful amendments. To find contact information for your Representative, call the Congressional switchboard at 877-210-5351 or click below.

Click Here to Contact Your Elected Officials

See NLIHC’s budget chart, http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/FY16_HUD-USDA-Budget-Chart_042815.pdf.

Let NLIHC know what you hear back from your Representative by emailing outreach@nlihc.org.