Sec. 2. Findings

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A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Congress finds the following: The United States is experiencing an ongoing affordable housing crisis that the Federal Government has failed to adequately or proportionately address. The Harvard Housing Center found that about half of all renters in the United States spent more than 30 percent of their incomes on rent and utilities, while 1 in 4 renters spent more than half their incomes on housing in 2018. Although developers have increased new home construction in recent years, the impacts of increased supply have not alleviated pricing pressures evenly across income distributions.

Often, housing developers focus new development on the most profitable sectors, increasing construction in the luxury housing market and leaving a void in affordable home construction. The most disadvantaged populations are left defenseless, without affordable housing options and at risk of eviction and displacement due to rising rents. In 2019, an average of 568,000 people experienced homelessness at a single point in time. Despite this large number of unhoused people in the United States, the housing choice voucher program, one of our most essential housing safety nets, had multi-year wait lists in many areas.

The public housing agencies that administer these vouchers continue to experience serious underfunding since Congress has only provided funding for administrative expenses prorated at 80 percent. The current housing affordability crisis does not impact all Americans equally—it is felt most acutely by people of color, and in particular African Americans, a testament to the lingering impacts of discriminatory housing policies. African Americans represent 40 percent of all people experiencing homelessness in the United States, while only accounting for 13 percent of the United States population.

In 1933, the Federal Government created the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, which played a pivotal role in the development and racial segregation of the United States housing market, also known as redlining. By deeming certain neighborhoods as hazardous and limiting investment in others, the Federal Government firmly established racially segregated neighborhoods throughout the United States. Predatory use of eminent domain in predominantly African-American neighborhoods was coupled by Federal urban renewal projects in the latter half of the 20th century, which cleared out homes and businesses throughout many of these communities.

Several areas of the United States saw an influx of African Americans migrating from the Deep South in pursuit of better economic opportunities. The Federal Government and State and local municipalities and their policies heavily influenced where this population settled. Historical restrictions on homeownership have driven disparate impacts for Black Americans, indigenous people, and people of color across most sectors of social existence. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the homeownership rate among Black Americans was 43.6 percent, while the Hispanic homeownership rate was 46.9 percent.

In comparison, the White (non-Hispanic) homeownership rate was 73.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, more than the all-minority homeownership rate. Creating policies and programs that encourage homeownership for the most disadvantaged is necessary to achieve equitable outcomes for all people in the United States. Generations of African Americans have been systematically displaced and that legacy is still felt by descendants today. Despite these clear and documented patterns, the Federal Government has not dedicated significant attention and resources to remedy the historical legacies of redlining, urban renewal, and other explicitly and intentionally racist housing policies.

Housing impacts education policy and outcomes. Low-income students who lack a quality education are less likely to pursue education or training beyond high school, and thus more likely to live in low-income neighborhoods. Schools with a large concentration of low-income students are classified as title I schools, and in 2016, the largest racial demographic in those schools were African-American children, followed by White children. Generally, school districts are largely funded by local property taxes, and low-income neighborhoods have lower home values.

School districts are therefore unable to provide a high quality education to their students. The property value funding mechanism perpetuates a systematic cycle that keeps low-income African-American people in poverty, with very little opportunity for upward mobility. Some States have tried to wrestle with this systematic cycle by redesigning the funding formula, yet the lasting implications of inequitable funding structures remain. Data demonstrates that communities of color and low-income families experience the adverse consequence of displacement the most due to Federal, State, and local inequitable housing policies.

As a result, disparities have occurred, diminishing or outright denying opportunities to obtain homeownership and access to generational wealth within these means. As living preferences change, current trends demonstrate that urban areas once comprised of higher concentrations of low income people and people of color have become more desirable and sought after by affluent people with different identities of those displaced—this is also known as gentrification. Congress should address and continue to study the ramifications of structural racism and social class disparities within Federal housing policies.

This can be done by targeting displacement, homelessness, housing affordability, enforcing tenant protections, providing landlords with incentives to participate in affordable housing programs, and facilitating access to resources that lead to homeownership. This Act aims to address the shortcomings of our current housing policies and funding levels by holistically addressing disparities and systematic obstacles and ensuring an equitable outcome for the most vulnerable Americans.