Attention Endorsers: New York Times editorial on the National
Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007
New York Times editorial supports the National Affordable
Housing
Trust Fund Act of 2007
==============================================================
Continue to urge your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 2895

More Info Visit this page:
http://capwiz.com/nlihc/utr/1/MRIAHJPKFO/IQPWHJPKHT/1284614096
]

Today's New York Times gave a resounding endorsement of the
National
Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007. We can use this support to
build momentum for additional co-sponsorship of H.R. 2895. This week
call, visit, or email the Member of Congress in your district,
especially since many will be making appearances in their areas.

For your convenience, here is a list of potential co-sponsors and the
New York Times editorial below:

1. Capito (WV)**
2. Castle (DE)
3. Davis, Geoff (KY)
4. Davis, Tom (VA)**
5. Emerson (MO)*
6. Ferguson (NJ)
7. Frelinghuysen (NJ)
8. Gerlach (PA)
9. Gilchrist (MD)
10. Johnson, Tim (IL)
11. LaTourette (OH)
12. LoBiondo (NJ)
13. Murphy, Tim (PA)
14. Pickering (MS)*
15. Platts (PA)*
16. Porter (NV)
17. Regula (OH)
18. Reichert (WA)
19. Saxton (NJ)
20. Shuster (PA)
21. Simpson (ID)
22. Turner (OH)
23. Upton (MI)*
24. Walden (OR)
25. Walsh (NY)
26. Weller (IL)
27. Wilson, Heather (NM)
28. Young (AK)

*co-sponsor in 108th Congress
**co-sponsor in 107th Congress

Please use this toll free number, 877-210-5351, for the congressional
switchboard and ask to be connected to the housing staffer in your
representative's DC office and/or visit
http://capwiz.com/nlihc/utr/1/MRIAHJPKFO/KBJCHJPKHU/1284614096/ to
enter your zip code for a complete listing of
your representatives local and DC contact information.

Please email us at outreach@... to let us know the outcome of
your call. And thank you for your support!


New York Times
July 3, 2007

Editorial

Affordable Housing

Nearly half of the country's lowest-income families suffer from what
Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies describes as a severe
housing cost burden that places them at clear risk of homelessness.
These struggling families often live doubled up with relatives and
spend more than half of their pretax incomes on rent, which means
that
they keep a
roof over their heads only by cutting back on food, clothing and
medical care.

The affordable housing crisis was accelerated during the 1980's, when
the Reagan administration and Congress backed away from a
longstanding
federal commitment to affordable housing by cutting construction
funds
and revising the tax structure in ways that discouraged investment in
affordable, multifamily buildings. Congress could reverse those
disastrous policies and help the most vulnerable families by passing
legislation that would create the National Affordable Housing Trust
Fund.

Modeled on successful, state-level programs, the fund would be used
to
construct, rehabilitate and preserve 1.5 million units of housing
over
the next 10 years. The money - three-quarters of which would be
earmarked for extremely low-income families - would be parceled out
to
local jurisdictions that would then award grants to entities that
build
and rehabilitate housing. In exchange for trust fund dollars, a
proportionate number of units would be set aside for low-income
families. This would encourage healthy, mixed-income developments.

The fund would require no new taxes, but would be financed through
new
contributions made by the government-backed mortgage giants, Fannie
Mae
and Freddie Mac, and with additional revenue generated by the Federal
Housing Administration, which insures mortgages. To put it another
way,
the government would direct money made from housing right back into
the
same area.

Hard-line Republicans have opposed similar legislation in the past,
arguing that the federal government has no place in the housing
business. But the bipartisan support that has materialized for this
year's bill suggests that the ideologues have had their day and that
the pain and hardship being inflicted by the affordable housing
crisis
is finally being recognized on both sides of the aisle.