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Senators Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Create Affordable Housing Task Force

Published on July 19, 2018 by Katelynn Harris
Senators Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Create Affordable Housing Task Force

On July 18, Senator Todd Young (R-IN) introduced S.3231, the Task Force on the Impact of Affordable Housing Crisis Act. The bill establishes an 18-member task force charged with evaluating and quantifying the impact of affordable housing on other government programs and making recommendations to Congress on how to use affordable housing to improve the effectiveness of other federal programs and improve life outcomes. Cosponsoring Senators include Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Angus King (I-ME), Dean Heller (R-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Doug Jones (D-AL), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Chris Coons (D-DE). The Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Minority Leader, the Speaker of the House, and the House Minority Leader will each appoint members of the task force.

Specifically, the Task Force will:

  1. Evaluate and quantify the impact that a lack of affordable housing has on other areas of life and life outcomes for individuals living in the United States, including education, employment, income level, health, nutrition, access to transportation, and poverty level in the neighborhood in which individuals live.
  2. Evaluate and quantify the costs incurred by other federal, state, and local programs due to a lack of affordable housing.
  3. Make recommendations to Congress on how to use affordable housing to improve the effectiveness of other Federal programs and improve life outcomes for individuals living in the United States.

Senator Young’s press release and his one pager describing the bill note, “For millions of individuals and families, a lack of affordable housing has negative, profound, and lasting consequences. Research shows that an inability to access safe, decent, and affordable homes jeopardizes educational performance and economic mobility and leaves families with fewer dollars to spend on health care, groceries, and other important expenses—further ingraining families in the cycle of poverty.”

The task force will have two years from the date of its members’ appointments to report its findings and recommendations to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Finance Committees and the House Financial Services and Ways and Means Committees.