U.S. Mayors Resolve to Prioritize Affordable Housing

The U.S Conference of Mayors (USCM) is making affordable housing and community development key priorities in its policy agenda. The USCM is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more, with each city represented by its mayor. At the organization’s 85th Annual Meeting, incoming USCM President Mayor Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans joined his colleagues in unveiling their bipartisan proposal, Leadership for America: Mayors’ Agenda for the Future. One of the agenda’s four top priorities calls to “create equitable communities to increase opportunity for all,” by investing in “inclusive neighborhoods, affordable housing, and community development.”

USCM adopted six resolutions stressing the importance of investment in affordable housing and community development, calling on Congress to create and preserve programs to address the nation’s affordable housing crisis. “The United States Conference of Mayors urges Congress to invest in critical programs that prevent homelessness, create affordable housing, and support community development and job creation,” stated one of the resolutions. 

The resolutions further express the Conference’s support for specific legislative action, including passage of the “Affordable Housing Credit and Improvement Act,” continued authorization and funding for the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, and increased HUD funding for federal housing assistance.