- Julián Castro
« People
First
Housing
Plan
(Part
II)
____________________________________________________________________________
PEOPLE FIRST HOUSING PLAN
Julián for the Future
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Contact: Sawyer Hackett
SAN ANTONIO, TX (June 18, 2019) – On Tuesday, June 18, presidential candidate and former U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary under President Obama and San Antonio Mayor, Julián Castro, unveiled part two of his People First Housing platform (link will be live at 2:00pm ET) to eliminate discrimination in housing, desegregate neighborhoods, prevent gentrification of revitalizing communities, and ensure our housing practices align with our climate goals. Secretary Castro will discuss his historic housing platform with MSNBC's Velshi & Ruhle today at 1:00PM ET/12:00PM CT.
“Despite the progress we’ve made in recent generations to advance fairness in housing, too many Americans are denied a home on the basis of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, legal status, or disability," said Secretary Julián Castro. "Just in the last two years, the Trump administration froze a landmark rule passed during my time at HUD to ensure all communities had the resources needed to overcome historic segregation. It’s time to redouble our efforts, to crack down on discriminatory housing, to desegregate our neighborhoods, to foster inclusive communities, and to ensure our housing goals are climate-conscious. That’s what my People First Housing plan will accomplish.”
Discrimination in housing is nothing new. For centuries, many Americans have been prevented from finding quality, affordable housing because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, legal status, or disability. Additionally, historically discriminatory practices like redlining, limiting access to credit, or stacking housing-assisted families in high rises have left our neighborhoods racially segregated and prevented many from obtaining housing opportunity.
We made tremendous progress in 1968 with the passage of the Fair Housing Act, groundbreaking legislation that has helped to reduce barriers to housing opportunities for Americans of all different backgrounds. Five decades later, the Fair Housing Act remains critically important to our efforts to prevent housing discrimination—but we must go further. We must strengthen enforcement of our fair housing laws. We must do more to make sure housing is accessible to our seniors and those with disabilities. We must do more ensure that Americans are not prevented from obtaining housing because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We must protect against gentrification as we work to revitalize our neighborhoods. And we must do more to desegregate our neighborhoods, which will also lead to desegregation of our children's schools.
However, in recent years we've taken steps backward. Rather than working to eliminate housing discrimination, the Trump administration froze a landmark rule passed during my time at HUD to ensure all communities had the resources needed to overcome historic segregation. My People First Housing plan calls for a redoubling of our efforts to crack down on discriminatory housing practices, to desegregate our neighborhoods, to foster inclusive communities, and to ensure our housing goals are climate-conscious.
PEOPLE FIRST HOUSING PLAN
- Part II: Providing Fair Housing to All Americans and Aligning Housing Policy with Climate Goals
____________________________________________________________________________
Julián for the Future
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Contact: Sawyer Hackett
Julián
Castro
Unveils
Groundbreaking
Plan
on
Fair,
Inclusive,
and
Green
Housing
Part two of People First Housing platform focuses on ensuring fair housing, inclusive revitalization of communities, and climate-friendly policies to boost resilience and sustainability
Part two of People First Housing platform focuses on ensuring fair housing, inclusive revitalization of communities, and climate-friendly policies to boost resilience and sustainability
SAN ANTONIO, TX (June 18, 2019) – On Tuesday, June 18, presidential candidate and former U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary under President Obama and San Antonio Mayor, Julián Castro, unveiled part two of his People First Housing platform (link will be live at 2:00pm ET) to eliminate discrimination in housing, desegregate neighborhoods, prevent gentrification of revitalizing communities, and ensure our housing practices align with our climate goals. Secretary Castro will discuss his historic housing platform with MSNBC's Velshi & Ruhle today at 1:00PM ET/12:00PM CT.
“Despite the progress we’ve made in recent generations to advance fairness in housing, too many Americans are denied a home on the basis of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, legal status, or disability," said Secretary Julián Castro. "Just in the last two years, the Trump administration froze a landmark rule passed during my time at HUD to ensure all communities had the resources needed to overcome historic segregation. It’s time to redouble our efforts, to crack down on discriminatory housing, to desegregate our neighborhoods, to foster inclusive communities, and to ensure our housing goals are climate-conscious. That’s what my People First Housing plan will accomplish.”
Part two of the People First Housing platform can be
viewed here and below:
People First Housing Platform
Part II: Providing Fair Housing to All Americans and Aligning Housing Policy with Climate Goals
Discrimination in housing is nothing new. For centuries, many Americans have been prevented from finding quality, affordable housing because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, legal status, or disability. Additionally, historically discriminatory practices like redlining, limiting access to credit, or stacking housing-assisted families in high rises have left our neighborhoods racially segregated and prevented many from obtaining housing opportunity.
We made tremendous progress in 1968 with the passage of the Fair Housing Act, groundbreaking legislation that has helped to reduce barriers to housing opportunities for Americans of all different backgrounds. Five decades later, the Fair Housing Act remains critically important to our efforts to prevent housing discrimination—but we must go further. We must strengthen enforcement of our fair housing laws. We must do more to make sure housing is accessible to our seniors and those with disabilities. We must do more ensure that Americans are not prevented from obtaining housing because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We must protect against gentrification as we work to revitalize our neighborhoods. And we must do more to desegregate our neighborhoods, which will also lead to desegregation of our children's schools.
However, in recent years we've taken steps backward. Rather than working to eliminate housing discrimination, the Trump administration froze a landmark rule passed during my time at HUD to ensure all communities had the resources needed to overcome historic segregation. My People First Housing plan calls for a redoubling of our efforts to crack down on discriminatory housing practices, to desegregate our neighborhoods, to foster inclusive communities, and to ensure our housing goals are climate-conscious.
Providing Fair Housing for All Americans
Beginning by re-implementing the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule to help communities accurately measure and reduce racial disparities in housing, and protecting the rights of women, LGBTQ individuals,- Reinstitute the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule,
the
Department
of
Housing
and
Urban
Development’s
ability
to
enforce
the
Fair Housing Act and mechanism for combating discrimination in
housing.
- Enforce the Fair Housing Act with the full power of the
Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Fair Housing
and Equal Opportunity. Expand and empower the department to
investigate the role of corporations, including banks and technology
companies, and those who run them, in driving up the cost of housing.
- Prohibit discrimination in housing and denial of access
to capital based on previous arrest or criminal
records and support reintegration from
the criminal justice system, as part of a broader effort to end
consideration of criminal history in employment and access to
government services.
- Defend housing protections for women by passing the
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and building on the
progress made in 2016 to strengthen its protections for vulnerable women.
- Extend non-discrimination protections for members of the
LGBTQ community in housing and employment through passing the
Equality Act, which also combats discrimination against the LGBTQ
community broadly.
- Reinstate and formalize the Gender Identity Rule to
provide
transgender
and
gender
nonconforming
people
access
to
sex-segregated
housing
and
shelter facilities on the basis of their
gender identity.
- Ensure long-term support services are provided for an
expanded Medicare program, including for individuals with
disabilities and senior citizens.
- Support individuals with disabilities’ access to
affordable housing units by:
- Supporting the Office of Fair Housing and Opportunity in
enforcing relevant parts of disability protections in housing;
- Committing to the construction of affordable housing
units for individuals with disabilities through all federal programs, including
through
the
National
Housing
Trust
Fund,
the
Capital
Magnet
Fund, and
the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit; and
- Ensuring individuals with disabilities have priority to
occupy
units
designed
for
their
needs.
- Supporting the Office of Fair Housing and Opportunity in
enforcing relevant parts of disability protections in housing;
- Support tribal sovereignty, housing innovation, and
government-to-government communication. Establish a Tribal
Intergovernmental Advisory Committee to increase communication with
tribal leadership on housing programs.
- Work with Congress to ensure full funding of Indian Housing
Block
Grant program, the Indian Community Development Block Grant Program
program, and the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant.
- Work with Congress to ensure full funding of Indian Housing
Block
Grant program, the Indian Community Development Block Grant Program
program, and the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant.
- Reverse discriminatory policies currently under
consideration by the Trump administration, including the
‘Public Charge Rule’ and the rule to prohibit ‘mixed-status’ immigrant
families in public housing.
- Expand protections for homeowners residing in
manufactured and mobile homes and actively prevent gentrification
by working with state and local
governments to improve oversight of rent
increases and redevelopment that displaces families,
supporting the renters in purchasing the land their homes reside on,
addressing the effect of corporate practices that have displaced
families in manufactured and mobile homes, and investigating the role
of private equity and Real Estate Investment Trusts in displacing
families and raising housing costs.
- Support aging in place for seniors, allowing them to stay in their homes and neighborhoods after retirement, including modifications of homes through Medicare to prevent falls and other hazards, and encouraging development that centers public-transit.
Revitalizing communities
- Combat the impact of gentrification and urban decay to
communities and prevent displacement of residents.
- Identify metrics to identify communities that are in the
early
stages of gentrification, and enact affirmative efforts to prevent
displacement before it happens.
- Use demonstrable efforts to prevent displacement due to
gentrification as a consideration in awarding competitive grants for
localities.
- Provide additional forms of assistance designed to keep rents
affordable and communities stable, including technical support and
small business loans to support entrepreneurship.
- Increase use of Small Area Fair Market Rents designations so
that
rental assistance can more quickly respond to rent increases and keep
rents affordable.
- Identify metrics to identify communities that are in the
early
stages of gentrification, and enact affirmative efforts to prevent
displacement before it happens.
- Constitute a federal initiative to target assistance to
high-poverty communities,
identifying communities through a competitive process that builds on
the successes of previous programs such as the Choice Neighborhoods and
Promise Zone initiatives.
- Expand access to capital and technical support for small
businesses, a vital part of our communities. By providing
$75
billion
annually
in
additional
loans
through the Small Business Administration’s loan program, we would
support an additional 150,000 small businesses each year, adjusting
fees and loan guarantees to reduce risk and raising loan guarantee
amounts.
- Develop more Live/Work communities that
co-locate
residences with work spaces using affordable housing programs like the
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. These plans promote urban growth and
sustainable development, and foster transit-oriented development.
Aligning Housing and Community Planning Policy with Climate Goals
The climate-driven natural disasters of this era demand a proactive plan for our nation’s infrastructure and zoning, as well as a defensive plan to rebuild following damaging storms.- Establish a $200 Billion Green Infrastructure Fund
as part of a broader climate-conscious infrastructure plan that would
bridge the $2 trillion infrastructure gap in the United States.
- Support public transportation, energy efficiency building
upgrades,
climate resilience, a modernized energy grid that includes high-voltage
direct current lines, energy storage, water conservation, public
electric vehicle charging stations, and other investments through
direct grants and concessional and non-concessional loans.
- Part of a broader effort to combat climate change, achieve net-zero
global
greenhouse
gas
emissions by 2050, reduce U.S. emissions
to at least half of 2005 emissions levels by 2030, and meet the promise
of the Green New Deal.
- The Green Infrastructure Fund would leverage private
capital, support local jobs and communities,
and include strong protections for unionized labor in
construction, maintenance, and operation.
- Support public transportation, energy efficiency building
upgrades,
climate resilience, a modernized energy grid that includes high-voltage
direct current lines, energy storage, water conservation, public
electric vehicle charging stations, and other investments through
direct grants and concessional and non-concessional loans.
- Require climate sensitivity and ‘Carbon Scoring’ in
future planning and government projects that
would ensure any government project contributes towards meeting climate
goals and sets benchmarks to reduce carbon impact and mitigate climate
change, including net-zero carbon emission targets for new federal
housing construction. The Environmental Protection Agency would be
required to score all major federal government projects with their
impact on our carbon goals.
- Ensure zoning reforms enacted through this plan further
climate goals
through higher density housing, transit-oriented development,
incorporating resilience in new developments, and other city planning
practices that lower commute times, diminish reliance on personal
vehicles, reduce destruction by natural weather events, and lower
carbon emissions.
- Establish Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Assistance as a permanent program to help communities recover from natural disasters more effectively, and support long-term sustainable land use.
***