Advocacy during a Pandemic (?)
Written by MPNAHRO Legislative Director Don May | Mountain Plains NAHRO July Newsletter | July 24, 2020
MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
Yes, this is absolutely the right time to make your voices heard and let congress know what we need to effectively address the fall-out the pandemic is having in our communities. We should be advocating for financial resources and regulatory waivers not only to operate our programs and properties that are serving our current residents and program participants, but also to increase our funding and expand our housing opportunities for the many millions of Americans who are going to need our assistance, especially as unemployment rates continue to be some of the highest in recent history.
THE PANDEMIC FACTOR
No one could have envisioned some six months ago what life would be like today. We have endured a total shut down of business and government in a majority of states through “safer at home” or mandatory “stay at home” orders. We saw horrific levels of our citizens diagnosed with Covid-19. There were hundreds of deaths each day, starting in the northeast and west coast, which soon became more than one thousand deaths each day. Initially, there were little to no cases listed in other parts of the country. This was soon to change and while many locations in the northeast were able to significantly limit the spread of the virus, we started to see a surge in the rest of the country. Our health care system has been over whelmed and in some cases has reached beyond their capacity in space as well as care takers.
It is said that some states probably re-opened too early and effectively allowed the virus to spread unchecked. We are now living in what is considered a full-fledged pandemic. Testing has increased nearly 40%, but infections have also increased by nearly 200%. While we await a vaccine, efforts to mitigate the spread include asking everyone to wear masks, practice social distancing and washing our hands, while we essentially. Many feel it is no longer feasible to shut everything down, so life will have to adjust to this new normal.
ADVOCATING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
In March, those of us running Public Housing Authorities and Community Development organizations had to quickly figure out how to operate and conduct business remotely or with a skeleton crew. This on top of the challenge of tens of millions of workers now unemployed or under-employed…how were they going to be able to pay their rent?
The vast and devastating impact the pandemic has had on almost every aspect of our daily lives has prompted Congress to take action. They have passed three measures to address the financial and logistical challenges stemming from the virus. Most notably the largest in scope and level of funding was the CARES Act. It provided additional funding to states, healthcare systems and many of the HUD programs as well as establishing a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. A summary of the CARES Act can be found here.
The success of the housing assistance included in the CARES Act is due in no small part to the role of NAHRO and its members who wrote and contacted their Representatives, Senators and the Administration. The Legislative Network established a goal of sending 2,000 letters and lo and behold we sent a total of 3,889 letters along with hundreds of personal contacts. I truly believe these actions made a huge difference. I have been told that Appropriators are specifically seeking out our input when they are working on legislation and funding bills. Our voices are being heard and acted upon. Now more than any other time we must ramp up our communication and education to our members of congress.
THE NEED CONTINUES
In May, the House passed what will now be the fourth measure to address the impact of the pandemic, which is aptly named the HEROs Act. The HEROs Act has broad and sweeping effects on many institutions and provides relief for many households. In addition to providing emergency supplemental funding to federal agencies, hospitals, state, local, tribal and territorial governments it extends and expands measures and resources previously included in the CARES Act which are scheduled to end this month. A sample letter urging Congress, specifically the Senate, to include the housing assistance language found in the HEROs Act into the next Covid Bill has been prepared for you. While the House passed its Bill in May the Senate has been reluctant to move on another stimulus bill and preferred to “call for a pause”. Unfortunately not much progress was made during this pause and the Senate is now in negotiations with the Administration. There is no cohesive plan being crafted among the Republicans and they have yet to meet with members of the Democratic House and Senate. Time is of the essence, as after much delay, many of the safety nets established in the CARES Act such as enhanced unemployment benefits and the moratorium on evictions will end in a number of days. We hope an agreement can be reached before Congress goes on their August recess. We all need to weigh in now and encourage congress to take actions commensurate with the crisis our country is experiencing.
Additionally we are advocating our support for the full and robust funding for FY 2021 Transportation-HUD (THUD) funding bill recently released by the House Appropriations Committee. This bill increases funding for nearly all HUD programs and provides an additional investment of $49 Billion towards HUD infrastructure programs. In addition to funding increases of $310 M (Capital Fund); $350 M (HOME); $100 M (CDBG) it includes $49 Billion in additional investments above and beyond the FY 2021 appropriations. The Bill also contains language preventing HUD from unilaterally making changes to the Annual Contributions Contract (ACC), an issue we have advocated for the past few years. This sample letter is also available for you to send to your Representatives, Senators and the Administration.
As has been our past practices, all sample letters can be found in the Advocacy Center. You can send them as-is or make any revisions you so choose. Remember it’s a numbers game and with enough participation, we are going to win. Recruit as many folks you can to submit letters. You may also want to call and make personal contacts with the staff for your members of congress. These will most likely result in a mutually beneficial relationship and garner support for our issues.
Thank you for your commitment to advocating on behalf of NAHRO priorities.
Don May
Legislative Director
Mountain Plains NAHRO
Yes, this is absolutely the right time to make your voices heard and let congress know what we need to effectively address the fall-out the pandemic is having in our communities. We should be advocating for financial resources and regulatory waivers not only to operate our programs and properties that are serving our current residents and program participants, but also to increase our funding and expand our housing opportunities for the many millions of Americans who are going to need our assistance, especially as unemployment rates continue to be some of the highest in recent history.
THE PANDEMIC FACTOR
No one could have envisioned some six months ago what life would be like today. We have endured a total shut down of business and government in a majority of states through “safer at home” or mandatory “stay at home” orders. We saw horrific levels of our citizens diagnosed with Covid-19. There were hundreds of deaths each day, starting in the northeast and west coast, which soon became more than one thousand deaths each day. Initially, there were little to no cases listed in other parts of the country. This was soon to change and while many locations in the northeast were able to significantly limit the spread of the virus, we started to see a surge in the rest of the country. Our health care system has been over whelmed and in some cases has reached beyond their capacity in space as well as care takers.
It is said that some states probably re-opened too early and effectively allowed the virus to spread unchecked. We are now living in what is considered a full-fledged pandemic. Testing has increased nearly 40%, but infections have also increased by nearly 200%. While we await a vaccine, efforts to mitigate the spread include asking everyone to wear masks, practice social distancing and washing our hands, while we essentially. Many feel it is no longer feasible to shut everything down, so life will have to adjust to this new normal.
ADVOCATING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
In March, those of us running Public Housing Authorities and Community Development organizations had to quickly figure out how to operate and conduct business remotely or with a skeleton crew. This on top of the challenge of tens of millions of workers now unemployed or under-employed…how were they going to be able to pay their rent?
The vast and devastating impact the pandemic has had on almost every aspect of our daily lives has prompted Congress to take action. They have passed three measures to address the financial and logistical challenges stemming from the virus. Most notably the largest in scope and level of funding was the CARES Act. It provided additional funding to states, healthcare systems and many of the HUD programs as well as establishing a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. A summary of the CARES Act can be found here.
The success of the housing assistance included in the CARES Act is due in no small part to the role of NAHRO and its members who wrote and contacted their Representatives, Senators and the Administration. The Legislative Network established a goal of sending 2,000 letters and lo and behold we sent a total of 3,889 letters along with hundreds of personal contacts. I truly believe these actions made a huge difference. I have been told that Appropriators are specifically seeking out our input when they are working on legislation and funding bills. Our voices are being heard and acted upon. Now more than any other time we must ramp up our communication and education to our members of congress.
THE NEED CONTINUES
In May, the House passed what will now be the fourth measure to address the impact of the pandemic, which is aptly named the HEROs Act. The HEROs Act has broad and sweeping effects on many institutions and provides relief for many households. In addition to providing emergency supplemental funding to federal agencies, hospitals, state, local, tribal and territorial governments it extends and expands measures and resources previously included in the CARES Act which are scheduled to end this month. A sample letter urging Congress, specifically the Senate, to include the housing assistance language found in the HEROs Act into the next Covid Bill has been prepared for you. While the House passed its Bill in May the Senate has been reluctant to move on another stimulus bill and preferred to “call for a pause”. Unfortunately not much progress was made during this pause and the Senate is now in negotiations with the Administration. There is no cohesive plan being crafted among the Republicans and they have yet to meet with members of the Democratic House and Senate. Time is of the essence, as after much delay, many of the safety nets established in the CARES Act such as enhanced unemployment benefits and the moratorium on evictions will end in a number of days. We hope an agreement can be reached before Congress goes on their August recess. We all need to weigh in now and encourage congress to take actions commensurate with the crisis our country is experiencing.
Additionally we are advocating our support for the full and robust funding for FY 2021 Transportation-HUD (THUD) funding bill recently released by the House Appropriations Committee. This bill increases funding for nearly all HUD programs and provides an additional investment of $49 Billion towards HUD infrastructure programs. In addition to funding increases of $310 M (Capital Fund); $350 M (HOME); $100 M (CDBG) it includes $49 Billion in additional investments above and beyond the FY 2021 appropriations. The Bill also contains language preventing HUD from unilaterally making changes to the Annual Contributions Contract (ACC), an issue we have advocated for the past few years. This sample letter is also available for you to send to your Representatives, Senators and the Administration.
As has been our past practices, all sample letters can be found in the Advocacy Center. You can send them as-is or make any revisions you so choose. Remember it’s a numbers game and with enough participation, we are going to win. Recruit as many folks you can to submit letters. You may also want to call and make personal contacts with the staff for your members of congress. These will most likely result in a mutually beneficial relationship and garner support for our issues.
Thank you for your commitment to advocating on behalf of NAHRO priorities.
Don May
Legislative Director
Mountain Plains NAHRO