Sign-On by March 1 to a Letter Calling on Congress to Lift Spending Caps and Fund Affordable Housing and Transportation Programs at the Highest Levels Possible
Groups concerned about transportation, housing, community development, and homelessness are working together to circulate a letter urging Congress to lift the austere Budget Control Act federal spending caps and to ensure affordable housing, community development, and transportation programs receive the highest allocation of discretionary funds possible for FY20.
Because the letter is substantially similar to the previous letter advocates sent to Congress urging lawmakers to lift the spending caps in April 2017, we are asking organizations to let us know if you would like to opt-out of the letter by emailing outreach@nlihc.org. You can see if your organization signed the previous letter here.
If your organization has not signed on before, you can do so here. National, state, and local organizations, as well as officials in municipal, tribal, and state governments, may sign on.
The deadline to sign on or opt out is March 1.
When the Budget Control Act of 2011 was signed into law, it created very low spending caps, limiting federal funding for discretionary programs. Since then, Congress and the White House have reached short-term agreements to provide limited budgetary relief for defense and nondefense programs. But the low spending caps return in 2019 for the FY20 budget. If they are not lifted, the caps could lead to devastating cuts to key affordable housing, homelessness, community development, and transportation programs.
With more families struggling to make ends meet, and our nation's affordable housing and transportation infrastructure deteriorating, federal investments are ever more critical to sustain our communities and help families improve their lives. While we must work to reduce our nation's deficit over the long-term, balancing our budget should not be done on the backs of our nation's low-income people and families.
Federal funding to the Department of Transportation and HUD provides essential capital and program funding that enables public and private partners to help more than five million low-income seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, parents with children, and others afford stable and safe housing, promote lasting community and family economic success, build critical transportation infrastructure, and spur economic development in communities. Through these investments, Congress reduces homelessness and housing instability, supports small-business job creation, expands our nation's infrastructure capacity, and encourages economic recovery and growth.
HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION
Members of Congress need to hear from you! Join housing, community development, and transportation advocates around the country by signing a letter urging Congress to lift the spending caps and to ensure affordable housing, community development, and transportation programs receive the highest allocation of discretionary funds possible for FY20.
Please click here to sign your organization on to the letter.
The deadline to sign on or opt out of the letter is March 1.
Questions/Comments? Please email outreach@nlihc.org with any questions.
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