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Dangerous rulemaking is underway that would seriously harm people of color and lower-income households; we are calling upon our members, partners, and supporters to act. Please make time to defend the Community Reinvestment Act, fight for affirmatively furthering fair housing, and urge Congress to fund housing and transportation.
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Community Reinvestment Act is Under Attack: Submit a Public Comment by March 9
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The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is under threat by proposed changes that would substantially undermine the spirit and impact of the law. Since 1977, CRA was passed to end discriminatory redlining by requiring banks to meet the credit needs of the communities where they do business. Discrimination in lending is still a problem, so we can’t stand by and let CRA be diluted. Here are a few distressing examples of what would become eligible for CRA credit:
- Financing an athletic stadium in an Opportunity Zone,
- Financing large infrastructure projects like bridges,
- Rental housing that is technically “affordable” to lower income households but has higher income tenants,
- Middle-income housing in high-cost areas, and
- “Small” businesses like $10 million farms.
The proposed changes would also decrease transparency and incentivize banks to invest in easier, larger-dollar projects in order to meet CRA obligations.
This is unacceptable, and our partner, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, has created a convenient way for you to help by providing either a short or a long public comment letter for you to modify. Go to https://ncrc.org/treasurecra/ and scroll down to the “Tell Regulators” tab to submit a public comment.
Individual comments matter, so please make sure to follow all of the instructions.
Quantity matters just as much as quality, so while Grounded Solutions Network will also submit a letter on behalf of our members, we are asking you to add one more public comment that CRA regulators will need to read and address.
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Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing is at Risk: Submit a Public Comment by March 16th
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At the start of the year, HUD released a proposed rule gutting 2015’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which advocates worked hard to establish so that HUD would meaningfully implement the 1968 Fair Housing Act. The Act mandates HUD and grantees to address housing discrimination and segregation and foster inclusive communities by affirmatively furthering fair housing.
HUD’s proposed rule would defy the intent of the statute, changing the definition of AFFH to disregard residential segregation and any effort to create areas of opportunity. The new process for evaluating jurisdiction’s AFFH efforts would simply measure whether a jurisdiction is free from adjudicated fair housing claims and has an adequate supply of affordable housing and quality affordable housing. The rule largely focuses on increasing the supply of housing and fails to focus on desegregation. Still further, no additional community engagement beyond Consolidated Planning would be needed.
Join our allies in the Fight for Housing Justice campaign to read analysis and submit public comments against these unfair changes; an overwhelming number of people must communicate why the 2015 AFFH rule needs to be restored.
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FY21 Budget Needs Highest-level Funding for Housing & Transportation: Sign-On Today!
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Congress and the president will soon begin the annual funding process for the 2021 Fiscal Year (FY21). Congress will only have about $5 billion more in FY21 than the current fiscal year for various national priorities, including affordable housing and community development programs, and HUD’s budget will need a significant increase over FY20 levels to maintain assistance to the current number of households.
Please sign-on to this letter urging Congress to ensure the highest amount of funding possible for transportation and housing programs for the 2021 fiscal year – be sure to add a note about the importance of increased funding for housing programs from your perspective.
One of the great strengths of America is our active public square, where issues are influenced by the will of the people. We must use our voice to take a stand!
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Grounded Solutions Network advocates on behalf of our members on national, state, and local policy issues. Staff represents our members in federal policy coalitions and campaigns that include advocacy for affordable housing and community development funding, the HOME program, tax credits, fair housing and fair lending, disaster recovery programs, and opportunity zones. We submit public comments and sign-on letters and meet with members of Congress to advance the field.
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Where we live matters.
We bring together an extensive network of partners and member practitioners from local communities who have a deep understanding of best practices in community land trusts, shared equity housing, local housing policies such as inclusionary zoning, and more.
At Grounded Solutions Network, we know what policies and strategies work to build and preserve housing opportunities, and we help communities use them.
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