Save the Date – Symposium on the 50th Anniversary of Hills v. Gautreaux in D.C. on Thursday, June 11, 2026: On June 11, join PRRAC, Mobility Works, and Impact for Equity in Washington, D.C. for “Mobility and Metropolitan Equity: The Legacy of Hills v. Gautreaux at 50,” a symposium examining the enduring impact of Hills v. Gautreaux. This full-day event explores the case’s historic role in housing mobility and its influence on modern civil rights and education policy. The program features a keynote by Kristen Clarke (NAACP), a lunch conversation with Peggy Bailey (CBPP) and Tara Raghuveer (Tenant Union Federation), and panels of distinguished experts discussing civil rights and housing history and litigation. Thanks to the generous support of sponsors Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Klein Hornig LLP, and Joseph Sellers, this symposium is free of charge to ensure accessibility for students and nonprofit professionals. However, space is limited and registration is required. Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/deUp7Uns2e1My9pa8
Sponsorship opportunities still available – please reach out to Thomas Silverstein (tsilverstein@prrac.org).
PRRAC Submits Comments on HUD Time Limits and Work Requirements Proposed Rule: On May 1, 2026, PRRAC and its partners at Mobility Works submitted a comment letter in opposition to a proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that would, if finalized, purport to give public housing authorities (PHAs) and owners of Project-Based Rental Assistance properties the discretion to impose time limits and work requirements on their tenants. HUD lacks the statutory authority to confer this discretion, and the adverse human consequences of time limits and work requirements would be significant, particularly for the children living in households participating in Housing Choice Voucher mobility programs. Although some observers have tried to downplay the importance of the proposed rule by noting that, on its face, it would not force PHAs or owners to adopt time limits or work requirements, no one should lapse into a false sense of security: at least two states have trigger laws that would force the local adoption of work requirements once HUD allows them, and there is a risk that more states will follow suit in forcing their municipalities to enforce these harmful policies. If the proposed rule is finalized, the housing justice movement will have to mobilize state-by-state and locality-by-locality to fight against these cruel and misguided time limits and work requirements.
Other news and resources
Talking about COPA and Housing Mobility: PRRAC Executive Director Thomas Silverstein spoke about important housing law and policy issues at two events on May 7, 2026. First, he spoke on a panel about New York City’s proposed Community Opportunity to Purchase Act during a continuing legal education eventat the New York City Bar Association.
Later that day, he spoke about PRRAC’s work – with the support of the American Institutes for Research – to develop technical assistance tools for Housing Choice Voucher mobility programs that are seeking to support their participants in making choices about schools and about the lessons the housing field can learn from mixed-income public housing redevelopment programs on a webinar hosted by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
A Break from the Parade of Horribles – Witchcraft Edition: On May 14, 1878, the last witchcraft trial in U.S. history began in – of course – Salem, Massachusetts. There are many ongoing problems with the criminal legal system in the U.S., but, here at PRRAC, we think that we should all be able to agree that it is good that our society has evolved past prosecuting people accused of witchcraft. In solemn reflection on the persecution that people – mostly women – accused of witchcraft faced for centuries (and continue to face in many countries), here are the PRRAC team’s favorite witches:
- Audrey: The North Berwick Witches (one of whom was an ancestor of Audrey’s)
- Tessa: Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service
- Thomas: Ursula from The Little Mermaid (who haunted Thomas’s dreams as a toddler, which is as it should be)
