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On Sept. 8, Congress returned from recess and lawmakers scheduled 12 legislative days before the start of the 2016 fiscal year on Oct. 1. In that time, Congress must come to a broad new agreement that lifts legally imposed spending caps or, more likely, pass a short-term measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to keep the government running for the rest of the year. Current spending laws expire on Oct. 1.
In June, the House of Representatives voted to pass its FY 2016 spending bills for the Department of Justice (Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill) and HUD (Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Funding Bill). Both bills contain several amendments that would limit enforcement and implementation of the Fair Housing Act. The Senate has yet to take action on these bills.
A recent study from the Urban Institute examined the relationships between housing subsidies, the mortgage interest and real estate tax deductions, and income inequality. It used data from the 2013 Current Population Survey (CPS), which the federal government uses for its official measures of income, poverty, and inequality. CPS income data is then adjusted by the Transfer Income Model (TRIM), which measures the value of near-cash benefits, such as food stamps, housing ...
Recently, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the “Equality Act,” S. 1858, and Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced its companion bill, H.R. 3185. It’s the first comprehensive and inclusive piece of federal legislation to encompass the entire lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community alongside those who have been traditionally protected by civil rights legislation.
HUD recently announced that it’s issuing a proposed rule that would amend its existing regulations regarding the equal participation of faith-based (religious) organizations in HUD programs. The amendments are being undertaken to implement Executive Order (EO) 13559, Fundamental Principles and Policymaking Criteria for Partnerships with Faith-Based and Other Neighborhood Organizations, which President Obama signed in November 2010.
HUD recently released a study concluding that housing vouchers are the most effective method for reducing homelessness. In HUD’s Family Options Study: Short-Term Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families, the agency looked at 2,282 homeless families in emergency shelters from 12 metropolitan areas in California, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Colorado, Hawaii, Missouri, Kentucky, Minnesota, Arizona, and Utah. The families,...
On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that claims of racial discrimination in housing cases shouldn’t be limited by questions of intent. The court affirmed a Court of Appeals decision in a case in which a nonprofit group sued the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for contributing to “segregated housing patterns” by allocating a disproportionate amount of the state’s Housing Credits to developments in predominantly black inner-c...
The Obama administration recently announced a new initiative to increase access to solar energy for all Americans, in particular low- and moderate-income communities. Last year, the United States brought online as much solar energy every three weeks as it did in all of 2008. And since the beginning of 2010, the average cost of a solar electric system has dropped by 50 percent.
Here are the executive actions the administration will implement to scale up solar energ...
Under newly announced rules, communities around the United States seeking federal housing grants will soon be required to address segregation and inequality in housing. The rules will require towns and cities to study patterns of segregation and how they’re linked to access to jobs, high-quality schools, and public transportation, and to publicly report, every three to five years, the results. Then, the municipalities must submit goals, which will be tracked over ...
Recently, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to H.R. 2578, the Fiscal Year 2016 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act, authored by Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., that would limit disparate impact prosecutions. The amendment would bar the Department of Justice from using funds for litigation in which they seek to apply disparate impact theory.
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