Reflections on 21st Century segregation in the new Poverty & Race: articles by Gary Cunningham, John Powell, Sherilynn Ifill, and Gail Christopher. Coming to your actual mailboxes next week, but available online here.
EPA and HUD coordination? We submitted comments to EPA regarding its proposed amendments to the EPA Title VI regulations. Our letter, co-signed by the Lawyers Committee and submitted on behalf of 14 organizations, specifically focuses on the need for EPA to coordinate with HUD, to engage in the HUD AFFH process and to leverage the AFFH process in its other nondiscrimination investigations and enforcement.
FHFA fair housing incentives: The Federal Housing Finance Agency has issued a proposed rule to implement Congress’s mandate that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac prioritize certain underserved markets (rural housing, manufactured housing, housing preservation) in their activities in the secondary mortgage market. The proposed rule includes an important “economic diversity incentive,” designed to promote development of low cost housing in high opportunity areas and mixed income housing in low opportunity areas. The proposed rule has generated much commentary from industry and advocates, including our coalition comment letter supporting the agency’s move but also urging the FHFA to strengthen the rule in several key respects.
Book launch – Integration Nation – next Thursday in DC: If you are in the DC area please come to hear Susan Eaton introduce her new book about immigrant integration from The New Press, “Integration Nation: Immigrants, Refugees, and America at its Best.” This book originated in research for the One Nation Indivisible project, a joint effort of PRRAC and the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute. Susan’s book talk is Thursday, March 24, from 4:15-6:00 at 1200 18th St. NW #200, Washington, DC. Light refreshments will be served. RSVP here.
Baltimore County Housing Settlement! Civil rights advocates in Baltimore have reached an impressive settlement of a HUD fair housing complaint challenging decades of exclusionary housing policies in Baltimore County (the first-ring suburban county that encircles the City of Baltimore). The settlement includes development of 1,000 affordable homes (with 10 percent fully accessible for residents with disabilities and 50 percent with three bedrooms), and the placement of 2,000 families with housing vouchers in areas of opportunity throughout the county. The County also agreed to provide $30 million in local funds over the next 10 years to help finance the new affordable housing. You can read more about the settlement here.
Preparing for the Assessment of Fair Housing (CA): Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and national fair housing and community development organizations (including PRRAC) are hosting an informative and interactive convening to prepare for implementation of the new Assessment of Fair Housing in California. Speakers include: HUD Assistant Secretary Gustavo Velasquez, Marketplace Senior Editor Nancy Farghalli, and Raphael Bostic of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. Join us on April 19at the Radisson Hotel Los Angeles Midtown at USC. Register here. To learn more about speakers and hotel information, please visit the conference webpage.
New housing mobility resources have been posted on HUD’s housing mobility page (plus you can still access substantial resources at PRRAC’s housing mobility page).
Berkeley-Stanford Conference on Inequality, April 15 – register here.
