Time is Waning for the National Housing Trust Fund:
Senate Sign-On Letter Circulating--Deadline TODAY
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is requesting that other Senators join him in signing letters to President Obama and Senate leaders Harry Reid (D-NV) and Max Baucus (D-MT) urging them to ensure that $1.065 billion for the NHTF is included in the final tax bill that must be passed in the next few days. The deadline for Senators to sign onto this letter is 4:00PM EST TODAY, December 10. Last week, the funding for the NHTF was stripped from the most recent tax bill offered by the Finance Committee. There have been efforts over the past few days to call the Senate and House leadership as well as the White House directly, urging them to include this funding in the tax bill being negotiated. More pressure is needed to raise this issue as a priority to be included in the final agreement. The fate of funding for the NHTF is now back with the Senate. Senator Reed is leading this charge, but needs other Senators to assist him. A copy of Senator Reed's letter can be found here and a copy of the letter to the President can be found here. What you can do:
- Call your Senators THIS MORNING. Ask to speak to the person who works on housing issues. You can reach Senator's offices by calling the Congressional switchboard toll-free at 877-210-5351--they can connect you directly.
- Ask the housing staff member to urge his/her boss to sign onto Senator Reed's letters TODAY. Senate offices should contact James Ahn in Senator Reed's office at james_ahn@reed.senate.gov or at 202-224-4642 in order to sign on.
Senators Dodd (D-CT), Kerry (D-MA), Whitehouse (D-RI) and Leahy (D-VT) have already signed onto the letter. Please encourage your Senators to add their names to this list.
Background: The goal of the NHTF (authorized in 2008) is to create 1.5 million units of affordable housing in 10 years. These units are critical to preventing and ending homelessness since 75% of the funds go toward rental housing for extremely low income households. |
