Advocacy Update: Senate May Consider NHTF This Week
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Advocacy Update | June 8, 2010
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Urge Your Senators to Fund NHTF and TANF ECF
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The Senate may vote THIS WEEK on legislation to fund the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) and extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF). The bill would also continue incentives for investors to support affordable housing development under the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC).
On May 28, the House passed H.R. 4213, which now heads to the Senate. Senate leaders are hoping to start debate on the bill as soon as TOMORROW.
We need your SENATORS to vote FOR H.R. 4213, which should include funding for the NHTF and the TANF ECF extension.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- Call your Senators' offices TODAY. Congressional office phone numbers can be found by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
- Urge them to continue their support for preventing and ending homelessness in your community by voting YES on H.R. 4213 and making sure funding for the NHTF and an extension of the TANF ECF are included in H.R. 4213.
Report any responses you receive to Amanda Krusemark.
BACKGROUND:
National Housing Trust Fund
The goal of the National Housing Trust Fund, which was authorized in July 2008, is to create 1.5 million units of affordable housing within ten years.
The NHTF is critical for efforts to prevent and end homelessness, as it targets at least 75 percent of the amount used for rental housing to extremely low income households. The majority of the people who enter the homeless system have experienced some sort of crisis that caused them to lose their housing because of the added burden from paying so much of their income for rent. For more information, visit the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign website.
TANF Emergency Contingency Fund
The TANF ECF, passed in February 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, provided $5 billion to reimburse states for increased costs of meeting the needs of low income families. States are using these funds to provide short-term assistance (such as four months of rental assistance), to provide subsidized jobs, and to meet the increased costs of more families receiving cash assistance. Unfortunately, the funds expire on September 30, 2010, but the needs of families are not expected to lessen within that short time frame.
Specifically, ECF funds can be used to make the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) go further, to provide employment, and to increase families' income. For more information, click here.
Low Income Housing Tax Credit Extension
The Tax Credit Exchange Program is administered by the Treasury Department and is designed to help stalled LIHTC programs move forward. Investors are currently eligible to receive a tax credit of up to 9 percent of their costs for 10 years. H.R. 4213 would extend this ability for an additional year.
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BUILDING
POLITICAL WILL
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The Alliance works collaboratively with its local, state, and national partners to advance policies and programs that prevent and end homelessness.
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