WASHINGTON - Statement by Tara Raghuveer, People’s Action Housing Campaign Director on Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s reintroduced American Housing and Economic Mobility Act:

“The price tag on Senator Warren’s housing bill, $999 billion, is a critical marker. After decades of Band-Aids and underfunding from the federal government, People’s Action is encouraged to see a bill that begins to address the scale of America’s housing emergency. Workers spend most of their income on housing, and tens of millions of people spend more than half of what they earn on their rent. This crisis won’t be solved by nickels and dimes.

“Budgeting such an investment for a range of housing programs is a good start – and we hope that it will precipitate other major structural change, like the construction of millions of new public or social housing units.

“Warren’s bill takes an important step toward repairing America’s enduring history of racist housing policy through targeted assistance to redlined communities and helping people still underwater from the 2008 crash, most of them people of color.

“For too long, big banks and the 1 percent have built fortunes on the backs of low-income tenants. Senator Warren’s bill, paid for by reformed estate tax and strengthened Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) measures, is a strong move toward justice for people who have been exploited for generations by our commodified housing system.”