Sixth National Housing Mobility Conference: Thanks to everyone who came to Chicago this week for a powerful and forward looking conference co-sponsored by PRRAC, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Metropolitan Planning Council.  You can see the conference program booklet here, and our special issue of Poverty & Race focused on regional housing mobility and interdistrict school integration.  More materials from the conference coming next week! 

Congratulations again to HUD on the release of the final Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule last week, after more than six years of development.  See our press releases here and here, and a strong editorial in the NY Times last Sunday.  Now that the initial celebrations are winding down, and the final rule and draft assessment tool have been published in the Federal Register, fair housing and civil rights advocates are turning their attention to the job of effectively implementing the rule (stay tuned). 

Mixed messages at the Treasury Department:  The good news is that the Treasury Department has finally issued proposed regulations implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (requiring non-discrimination in programs administered by the Department).  Oddly, however, the draft regulations do not yet include our largest low income housing development program, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, in the list of covered programs!  As civil rights groups have repeatedly explained to the Department, the multi-billion dollar LIHTC program clearly constitutes "federal financial assistance" under the Title VI statute, and the Department has no legal basis to exclude this massive housing program from coverage. Accordingly, we will press the Treasury Department to include the LIHTC program in the final rule.

New HUD broadband initiative, ConnectHome, will extend affordable broadband access to families living in HUD-assisted housing - starting in 27 cities and the Choktaw nation.  

NEXT WEEK: Building One America's National Conference, July 23-24, Washington, DC: Still time to Register - conference opens at Georgetown Law School next Thursday at 3:00.