May 12, 2023
Marcia Fudge, Secretary
Adrienne Todman, Deputy Secretary
Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 7th Street SW
Washington, DC 20410
Dear Secretary Fudge and Deputy Secretary Todman,
As national civil rights and housing advocacy organizations deeply committed to fair housing, we are writing today to urge you to follow through on important regulatory reforms in HUD’s largest housing program, the Housing Choice Voucher program, to advance that program’s largely unrealized promise to affirmatively further fair housing and expand housing choices for low income families, the majority of whom are people of color.1
We understand that two long overdue civil rights advances in the voucher program are currently pending at the HUD – reforms to the Section 8 Management Assessment Program (SEMAP) and the scheduled expansion of the Small Area Fair Market Rent (SAFMR) program. Some of us have participated in “listening sessions” held by HUD on of both these pending programs, but we want to take this opportunity to further underscore the importance of these two programs in advancing civil rights and housing justice for the families you serve. As we will note below, both SEMAP and the expansion of the Small Area FMR program are necessary to meet HUD’s obligations to affirmatively further fair housing in the voucher program.
