August 2, 2000
Sign On to New Letter in Support of
Affordable Housing Preservation
Please
sign on to this letter and encourage your own networks to do the same.
The deadline for signing on to the letter is Monday, August 28 at 5 pm EST.
Please take a moment to encourage Senators to
co-sponsor S. 2733, the Affordable Housing for Seniors and Families Act, by
signing on to this letter. We are
working to pass this important legislation during this legislative session.
The bill was introduced by Senators Santorum (R-PA), Sarbanes (D-MD) and
Kerry (D-MA).
Organizations are encouraged to sign on to the letter
and to spread this Call to Action to
your own networks.
On July 18, Senator Santorum, Vice Chair of the
Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation, held a hearing on S. 2733.
The hearing made clear that there is widespread support for this bill.
Very similar legislation passed the House in September of 1999 (H.R. 202
sponsored by Representative Lazio (R-NY)) but only pieces of it were enacted
last year. Now, we have a great
opportunity to enact many of the remaining pieces of H.R. 202. But, the bill needs additional co-sponsors to help move the
bill through the Senate.
Thus
far, the following Senators have already joined Senators Santorum, Sarbanes and
Kerry in co-sponsoring this bill:
Senator
John Breaux (D-LA) Senator
Michael DeWine (R-OH)
Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Senator
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Senator Rod Grams (R-MN)
Senator
Ernest Hollings (D-SC)
Senator James Jeffords (R-VT) Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN)
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Please fax this
form to us at 202/393-1973 or email the information to linda@nlihc.org
by 8/28/00.
_____ Yes,
my organization supports S. 2733 and would like to sign on to the letter.
Contact Name:
Organization:
Address:
City, State and Zip Code:
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
Thank you!
August
__, 2000
(To
all Senators except those already co-sponsoring S. 2733)
United
States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear
Senator _______:
The
undersigned organizations are writing to express our support for the recently
introduced S. 2733, the Affordable Housing for Seniors and Families Act, and to
urge you to co-sponsor this important legislation. This bill includes important
provisions affecting elderly housing, including revision of the financing of
Section 202 properties, and authorizes desperately needed funds to preserve
federally assisted multifamily housing. The
bill also reauthorizes and modernizes the Section 811 Supportive Housing for
People with Disabilities program.
In
particular, we strongly support the provisions of the legislation that would
authorize the Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish a
matching grant program (Section 401), which would distribute grants to states
and localities that spend their own funds to preserve HUD-assisted housing for
low-income use. Preserving existing
affordable housing is far more cost-effective than new construction, and avoids
the risk of displacing families, the elderly and people with disabilities from
their homes and communities.
The
matching grant provisions of the bill will help safeguard the availability of
federally assisted housing affordable to families with low-incomes.
By channeling funds to both existing owners and new purchasers of
HUD-assisted housing to cover capital expenditures or higher equity values, the
matching grant program would enable preservation of the affordable character of
this vital housing stock. In addition, by requiring that existing or new owners accept
extended use restrictions in exchange for the matching grant funds, Section 401
would ensure that these new investments achieve their intended public purpose.
We
are also pleased that the Section 401 matching grant program would allow HUD to
provide matching funds at up to twice the level of state or local funding,
signaling Congress= commitment to work in partnership with state and
local governments to protect the supply of affordable housing.
We also support those provisions that channel federal matching funds
through state and local housing agencies with a demonstrated commitment to
preserving affordable housing. An
increasing number of states and localities are dedicating funds toward the
preservation of federally assisted housing.
This bill will help those state and local governments working for
preservation.
While
we have a number of specific recommendations on how to strengthen the bill to
create a more effective program, including a preference or priority for
resident-endorsed nonprofits, we will submit those suggestions as the bill moves
forward with hearings and staff revisions.
We
hope you can support S. 2733, introduced by Senators Rick Santorum, Paul
Sarbanes and John Kerry on June 15, by becoming a co-sponsor today.
To co-sponsor S. 2733, please contact Michelle Kitchen of Senator
Santorum's
staff at 224-6324, or Jonathan Miller of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban
Affairs Committee staff at 224-9204.
We
look forward to working with you to ensure passage of S. 2733 this year.
Sincerely,