|
Legislative Action Alert
WEIGH-IN ON HUD MCKINNEY-VENTO REAUTHORIZATION
ACTION REQUESTED: The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) urges state and local homeless coalitions and other advocates to contact their U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives and let them know your position on HUD McKinney-Vento homeless assistance programs.
ACTION NEEDED NOW: Please fax letters or make telephone calls during August, while Congress is in recess, or in early September, when Congress returns.
BACKGROUND: HUD McKinney-Vento (HMV) programs make funds available to service providers in urban, suburban, and rural communities across the nation to provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent housing, and supportive services to persons experiencing homelessness. Congress has not formally reauthorized the HMV law since 1992, leaving policymaking about HUD homeless assistance programs largely to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, with limited Congressional involvement.
Prospects for HMV reauthorization are greater than ever, with action taking place in both the Senate and the House. In the Senate, the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee is considering the Community Partnership to End Homelessness Act (S. 1518). The Committee had scheduled a markup of the legislation for late July, but pulled the bill from its calendar due to significant differences among Committee members. Negotiations over the bill continue.
In the House, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity is planning a hearing on homelessness for Fall 2007. Among the legislation that the subcommittee will be reviewing is the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act, H.R. 840.
The National Coalition for the Homeless has commented on both bills. With regard to S. 1518, NCH sent a detailed letter to the Senate sponsor outlining provisions of the bill that have our support, provisions for which we recommend improvements, and additional provisions we would like the Senate to include in its final HMV measure. See our comment letter on S. 1518 at http://www.nationalhomeless.org/housing/NCH_CPEHA_Letter.pdf.
With regard to H.R. 840, NCH sent a letter of endorsement. We also encouraged the sponsors to work to make several additions to the legislation. See our comment letter on H.R. 840 at
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/housing/NCH_HEARTH_Letter.pdf.
NCH has prepared a comparison of S. 1518 and H.R. 840. It is posted at http://www.nationalhomeless.org/housing/HMV_Reauthorization_Side_by_Side.pdf.
SUGGESTED ACTION MEASSAGES: NCH suggests the following messages on HUD McKinney-Vento reauthorization to U.S. Senators and to U.S. Representatives. We have attached sample letters to make communication with your elected officials fast and easy.
Message to U.S. Senators – Amend the Community Partnership to End Homelessness Act (S. 1518) before it passes the full Senate to make it a stronger and more inclusive bill. In particular, please ensure the Senate’s HUD homeless assistance reauthorization bill:
- Amends the HUD definition of homelessness to include persons sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing or economic hardship and persons living in motels, hotels, and campgrounds due to their lack of adequate housing.
- Restores flexibility of geographic areas to set their own priorities in the use of HUD homeless assistance funds without federal preferences or incentives that may impede community responsiveness to local conditions.
- Increases the authorization level for HUD homeless assistance programs to $3 billion annual.
Contact Instructions: To find your two U.S. Senators and their fax numbers, please call 202.224.3121 and ask the Capitol Switchboard to switch you to your U.S. Senators. Ask those offices for their Washington DC fax numbers. Also you may visit www.senate.gov and find the web pages of your two U.S. Senators. They will usually post their Washington DC fax numbers.
While communication with all U.S. Senators is helpful, it is especially important that U.S. Senators on the Banking Committee hear from their constituents. Those Senators are:
Alabama – Richard Shelby; Connecticut – Christopher Dodd; Colorado – Wayne Allard; Delaware – Tom Carper; Florida – Mel Martinez; Hawaii – Daniel Akaka; Idaho – Mike Crapo; Indiana – Evan Bayh; Kentucky – Jim Bunning; Montana – Jon Tester; Nebraska – Chuck Hagel; New Hampshire – John Sununu; New Jersey – Robert Menendez; New York – Charles Schumer; North Carolina – Elizabeth Dole; Ohio – Sherrod Brown; Pennsylvania – Robert Casey; Rhode Island – Jack Reed; South Dakota – Tim Johnson; Utah – Robert Bennett; Wyoming – Michael Enzi
Message to U.S. Representatives – Co-sponsor the HEARTH Act (H.R. 840). (75 House members already co-sponsor H.R. 840. They may be thanked for their support. A co-sponsor list may be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR00840:@@@P.)
Contact Instructions: To find U.S. Representatives serving your geographic area and their fax numbers, please call 202.224.3121 and ask the Capitol Switchboard to switch you to your U.S. Representatives. Ask those offices for their Washington DC fax numbers. Also you may visit www.house.gov and find the web pages of your U.S. Representatives. They will usually post their Washington DC fax numbers.
Also, please fax an organization letter of endorsement of the HEARTH Act to Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. Fax 202.225.6952.
Also, please fax an organization letter of endorsement of the HEARTH Act to U.S. Representative Julia Carson (D-IN), the chief sponsor of H.R. 840. Fax 202.225.5633.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND TO REPORT BACK TO NCH:
Contact Michael Stoops, NCH Acting Executive Director, at info@nationalhomeless.org or 202.462.4822. Please fax copies of your letters to NCH at 202.462.4823.
Download Sample Letters:
|
