National Low Income Housing Coalition: National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act Introduced In The House of Representatives
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 28, 2007
10:39 AM
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CONTACT: National Low Income Housing Coalition
Nicole Letourneau 202-662-1530 x227, nicole@nlihc.org
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National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act Introduced In The House of Representatives
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WASHINGTON - JUNE 28 - The National Housing Trust Fund Campaign, coordinated by the National Low Income Housing Coalition along with more than 5,600 supporters across the country, is pleased to announce that U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, introduced a bill today with strong bipartisan support to establish a National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) to address the unmet housing needs of millions of households.
The bill, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007, was introduced by Representative Frank together with Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, and Representative Jim Ramstad (R-MN), along with other members of Congress. The bill was unveiled on Capitol Hill today with support from many national organizations.
The National Housing Trust Fund Campaign commends Representative Frank and cosponsors of the bill for their leadership in addressing the affordable housing crisis in this country and their commitment to providing the resources necessary to build housing that is affordable for the lowest income families.
The National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 will establish a National Housing Trust Fund, a dedicated source of funding for the production, preservation and rehabilitation of 1.5 million affordable homes in 10 years. At least 75% of the funds will be for housing for households that are extremely low income, earning less than 30% of an area’s median income.
“The introduction of the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 is a signal of hope for the millions of families of low wage earners and elderly or disabled people on fixed incomes who cannot afford even the most modest rental homes,” Sheila Crowley, President of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said. “With this bill, new resources will be dedicated to expand the supply of rental homes that the lowest income people can afford.”
There is an acute lack of affordable housing and the need for a National Housing Trust Fund is well documented. Nationwide, there are only 6,187,000 homes renting at prices affordable to the 9,022,000 extremely low income renter households - a shortage of 2,835,000 homes. Not a single Congressional district has enough rental housing affordable and available to extremely low income families. Housing is considered affordable if it costs no more than 30% of household income.
Housing trust funds already have been established by more than 600 state and local governments and have proven to be a successful approach to funding affordable housing programs. “Housing is the foundation of thriving communities, and this bill reflects the valuable experience of states and localities that have committed dedicated sources of revenue to address their housing problems,” Crowley said.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition has joined with more than 5,600 other local and national organizations around the country in the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign with the goal of the successful passage of national housing trust fund legislation in the 110th Congress. It pledges to work together with its members across the country and their representatives in the House and the Senate to achieve this goal.
In addition to Representative Frank, original cosponsors include Representatives Charles Dent (R-PA), Philip English (R-PA), Al Green (D-TX), Barbara Lee (D-CA), John McHugh (R-NY), Christopher Murphy (D-CT), Jim Ramstad (R-MN), Rick Renzi (R-AZ), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Nydia Velasquez (D-NY).
Bills to establish a National Housing Trust Fund were introduced in the 106th, the 107th and the 108th Congress by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) in the Senate and Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is now the new Senator from Vermont, in the House.
More information about the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign can be found here: www.nhtf.org.
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