Dear John,
The House GOP just advanced a budget bill that would rip nearly $1 billion out of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. As rents rise and more families are forced into homelessness, Republican lawmakers are choosing to make things worse.
The bill targets the HOME Investment Partnerships Program for elimination. It slashes enforcement of Fair Housing laws by 67 percent. It cuts funding for eviction prevention, rental assistance, and public housing maintenance. And it opens the door for housing authorities to impose rent hikes, time limits, and work requirements by waiving basic tenant protections.
These policies are designed to evict people from their homes, deepen homelessness, and dismantle protections against discrimination in housing. This is a war on the most vulnerable people in this country.
National housing advocates have called for full funding of Housing Choice Vouchers, expanded investment in public housing, over $4.9 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants, and stronger eviction protections. They are right.
Congress must invest in safe, stable housing as a human right, not rip it away in the name of cruelty. Tell Congress: stop the cuts and protect affordable housing now.
Public housing doesn’t need more red tape. It needs repairs. Families don’t need work requirements. They need roofs over their heads. Eviction courtrooms don’t need more foot traffic. They need to be empty.
The damage from these cuts will be generational. Children pushed into unstable housing suffer in school. Seniors forced from their homes face deadly health risks. Communities already strained will buckle under the weight of rising homelessness and desperation.
With an October 1 funding deadline looming, time is running out to stop this attack. Lawmakers must hear from us now. If we stay silent, we give them permission to cut housing and watch the fallout unfold.
We need to show them what grassroots resistance looks like. This budget cannot pass. Not in our name.
Tell Congress to oppose HUD cuts now! Our communities are at risk. Housing is a human right, and we must fight to protect it.
Let’s fight for housing justice.
- DFA AF Team
