March 5, 2002

Will address the housing crisis for America’s lowest income families And provide needed economic stimulus

Acknowledging the dire shortage of housing for the country’s poorest families and the effectiveness of housing construction as economic stimulus, members of the House of Representatives will introduce legislation on Wednesday, March 5, to establish a National Housing Trust Fund.

Modeled after the more than 270 state and local housing trust funds, the National Housing Trust Fund will provide communities with funds to build, rehabilitate, and preserve 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years, primarily for households with serious housing affordability problems.

Representatives Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Robert Simmons (R-CT) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) will host a press conference from 9:15 am to 10 am on March 5 in room HC-9 of the U.S. Capitol to announce the bill’s introduction. Details, including a list of speakers, will be announced. Out-of-town media should contact David Swanson at ACORN at 202-547-2500 or cell 202-329-7847 or Kim Schaffer at National Low Income Housing Coalition at 202-662-1530.

Why a National Housing Trust Fund:

There is a shortage of housing for America’s poorest families. The bipartisan Millennial Housing Commission reports that it would take the production of 250,000 units of housing a year for 20 years to close the gap between the number of affordable rental housing units and the number of low income households who need affordable housing. Meanwhile, the federal commitment to low income housing has plummeted. The Bush proposed FY2004 budget for HUD of $31.3 billion is only 37% of the FY1976 HUD budget of $83.6 billion (in constant 2002 dollars). Establishing the National Housing Trust Fund will renew the federal commitment to assuring safe, decent, and affordable housing for all Americans.

Housing is economic stimulus. Housing production is one of the most effective and efficient economic stimulants. According to a recent study by the Center for Community Change, a $10 billion investment in a National Housing Trust Fund would produce more than 368,000 jobs. When leveraged, 3.6 million jobs and $100 billion in wages could be created.

Grassroots support for a National Housing Trust Fund is immense. Nearly 4,000 organizations, religious leaders and elected officials from every state in the country have endorsed the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign. (A complete list, by state, is available at www.nhtf.org.) Congressional supporters call the Campaign the largest grassroots effort with which they’ve ever been involved.

“The breadth of support for the National Housing Trust Fund is testimony to the seriousness of the affordable housing shortage,” said Sheila Crowley, President of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “People who live and work in cities, suburbs, and rural areas are clamoring for renewed federal investment to address this most pressing human need.”

“Here’s a tested and proven program that can create affordable housing while actually boosting the economy, for a cost that’s literally hundreds of times less than the President’s proposed tax cuts for millionaires. Whatis Congress waiting for?” said ACORN National President Maude Hurd.

The acute need for affordable housing, the broad based grassroots support, and the dedication of the Congressional cosponsors all give the National Housing Trust Fund legislation significant momentum. Two hundred members of Congress had signed on as cosponsors of National Housing Trust Fund legislation by the time the last Congress ended. Building on its considerable base of support, National Housing Trust Fund campaign organizers pledge to an all-out push to pass this legislation in the 108th Congress.

ACORN is an acronym, and each letter should be capitalized. ACORN stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now

ACORN is an acronym, and each letter should be capitalized. ACORN stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. ACORN is the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, with over 150,000 member families organized into 700 neighborhood chapters in 51 cities across the country. Since 1970 ACORN has taken action and won victories on issues of concern to our members. Our priorities include: better housing for first time homebuyers and tenants, living wages for low-wage workers, more investment in our communities from banks and governments, and better public schools. We achieve these goals by building community organizations that have the power to win changes -- through direct action, negotiation, legislation, and voter participation. ACORN's website is at http://www.acorn.org. To receive updates on ACORN's work every two weeks, Get Connected.

Contact:

David Swanson at (202) 329-7847

Gregg Jefferson at (202) 256-1260