Using LIHTC to expand social housing? The urban planning journalism site Next City ran a great story last week covering PRRAC’s 50-state survey of Low Income Housing Tax Credit allocation plans, and our collaboration with the Alliance for Housing Justice to expand social housing funding through the LIHTC program – read it here.
Source of income discrimination: HUD has released a recording of their July 25th symposium on voucher discrimination, featuring PRRAC executive director Phil Tegeler, and several of our research and advocacy partners – worth watching. Also, with so much activity in this field, we’ve just updated Appendix B (our encyclopedia of SOID laws and research) for the third time this year!
Other news and resources
Responses to attacks on Title VI: In response to a request for rulemaking from a group of conservative state attorneys general (seeking to eliminate the use of disparate impact liability in Title VI environmental justice claims at EPA), a group of progressive attorneys general submitted a powerful, comprehensive reply explaining the legal basis and historical necessity of the Title VI disparate impact rule. The AGs’ reply letter followed an excellent letter by advocates in the Title VI Alliance also opposing the request for rulemaking.
More social housing resources: Yesterday, Representative Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Tina Smith introduced the HOMES Act which includes a proposed social housing development authority, and elimination of the reactionary 1998 law prohibiting the expansion of public housing, among other provisions (good summaries here and here). Rep. Ocasio-Cortez will also appear at the Center for American Progress “Innovative Solutions to the U.S. Housing Crisis” online conference TODAY along with our colleague Thomas Silverstein, journalist Jerusalem Demsas, and more. See also the Alliance for Housing Justice’s new report, “Building our Future: Grassroots Reflections on Social Housing.”
The National Homelessness Law Center is seeking a Housing Justice Director – see the listing here.
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