HB 60 (see below) was unanimously voted
out of Appropriations on January, 25th. It
is now scheduled for a full House vote tomorrow
or Wednesday. Please call or e-mail
your State Representative immediately to
voice your support for affordable housing for low and
fixed-income populations. Instructions for action and a
link to LAMPa's housing trust fund e-advocacy campagin
page are included in the alert below.
Click here to read an opinion on the housing trust
fund from Cindy Daley of the Housing Alliance of
Pennsylvania, printed in the Patriot-News.
___________________________________________________________ACTIONET
January 22, 2010
Action Alert!
Support a State Housing Trust Fund
& HB 60
What You Can
Do:
Call or email your
State Representative and tell him or her that
you support HB 60, the creation of a state
housing trust fund.
You can find
your State Representative's phone number by entering
your zip code in the “Find Your Elected Officials” box
in the lower left-hand corner of the LAMPa website (www.lamp.org).
Be sure to click on the
“state” tab!
The following is a sample of how your phone call
might go:
"My name is ___________, and I'm a constituent. As a
person of faith I support HB 60 and the creation of a
state housing trust fund. It would require no new state
money this year, but would effectively and efficiently
direct federal money towards a very pressing problem for
all communities - urban and rural alike"
Background
For the
past few years, a large, bi-partisan group of State
Representatives and Senators have been trying to pass a
state housing trust fund to improve the amount of
affordable housing in communities all across the
Commonwealth. 38 other states have similar funds, and
in 2008, Congress enacted the National Housing Trust
Fund. The only hurdle has been finding the money to
capitalize the fund as state revenues (across the
country) have been in decline. Without an appropriation,
no one has has interest in moving to legislation.
However, now that Congress sits on the verge of
capitalizing the National fund, efforts to have the
State fund in place are moving.
LAMPa and the ELCA have been advocating for trust funds
as one solution to the complex problems of housing and
homelessness for many years.
“Housing is a fundamental human right.” Therefore we
should "not overlook the need for new and sustained
initiatives by governments... to assure housing services
for low-income families."
