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Rural Advocacy

RCAC is a strong advocate for low-income, rural and tribal communities. To keep our network and clients up-to-date on important policy changes, RCAC posts sign on letters and white papers for review.

If your organization has a sign on letter that you would like RCAC to respond to, please e-mail Chris Marko at cmarko@rcac.org.

RCAC also is the Western Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP).  RCAP is a national organization that maintains an office in Washington, D.C. so we have direct access to policymakers on the national level. If you would like to find out about legislative action in your region, or you would like to know what your representatives are voting on, please visit the RCAP/RCAC legislative action page.

ACTION ALERT!

Dear Rural Advocates,

Because the House is moving very quickly to mark up their Agriculture Appropriations bill in the coming weeks, we need to let Congress know that proposed cuts to Rural Development programs - including Rural Housing -- are unwise and unwarranted.

Rural housing and community development programs have already been cut by at least $750 million since 2010, including a nearly $400 million cut to Rural Housing programs. Now, the President's FY14 Budget Request proposes significant cuts that will further hurt some of our nation's most vulnerable families. By cutting USDA Rural Development programs by $200 million, the budget will only make it harder for lower-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities to access decent, healthy, and affordable housing.

Please, sign this petition TODAY and urge Congress to fully fund rural housing and community programs in FY14. The petition closes on Monday, May 13th.

Because of the short turn-around time, please help us spread to work to as many rural organizations and advocates as possible. The more organizations and individuals that sign on, the stronger our voice will be on Capitol Hill.

Thank you for your advocacy!

Follow the action on Twitter @RuralCoalition and Facebook!

Source: National Rural Housing Coalition

Deadline extended!

Forty nine Cosigners! In less than one week, we doubled the number of cosigners to Rep. Fortenberry's letter to House Leadership, urging them to address the "rural" definition issue in the Continuing Resolution. And, now that Rep. Fortenberry has decided to extend the deadline for Representatives to sign on to August 31, we have even more time to build Congressional support for this issue.
Please, continue to call your Representatives and ask them to cosign Rep. Fortenberry's letter! Not sure who to call? Check out our list of Congressional targets!

Help 900 communities stay eligible for Rural Housing Programs

Unless Congress acts, more than 900 rural communities across the nation will lose eligibility for funding under critical Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing programs on October 1, 2012. At that time, the law requires that USDA reclassify communities as “rural” with data from the 2010 Census. As a result, 923 communities currently eligible for USDA Rural Housing programs will be excluded. While these communities are, by any measure, rural, most will lose eligibility because they are located within Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). With half of all rural residents living in MSAs, this will have a significant impact on local rural economies. Congressman Fortenberry, who has been trying to move legislation that would provide a 10 year solution, has agreed to sponsor a letter to the leadership, requesting that they accept an amendment on this issue. A copy of the letter, which we need all members of the House to sign, is attached. The challenge is to show the leadership that this is a consensus policy position without controversy. To do this, we need as many members of the House as we can get to sign the attached letter. Also attached is the amendment being proposed, which simply continues eligibility for everyone who is currently eligible. Fortenberry will keep the letter open until mid-August, so the faster we can secure co-signers the better. Please, send your Representative a copy of the letter and the amendment and then call to ask him/her to sign on. In addition, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Association of Realtors, and the Mortgage Bankers Association have all joined National Rural Housing Coalition in trying to secure the amendment. Please reach out to the local chapters of these organizations, and ask them to contact your Representative to encourage the legislator to sign on. A copy of this joint letter is attached for you to use in contacting your local associations.

Draft Amendment Language
House Leadership Letter
Continuing Resolution Letter

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Direct aid to borrowers

RCAC joined 73 housing counseling agencies on a sign-on letter to California Governor Jerry Brown urging him to use National Mortgage Settlement Funds for direct aid to borrowers and not to close the state budget shortfall.

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American Community Survey (ACS) Funding Sign-On Letter

On May 9, the House of Representatives voted, 232-190, to eliminate all funding for the Census Bureau's American Community Survey in the 2013 Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill. In response, the Census Project would like as many national, state, and local organizations to sign on to the attached letter. If your organization wishes to sign on to the letter, please contact Brendan Nichols bnichols@ccmc.org by 9:30 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, May 15. RCAC has signed on to the letter. For more information on The Census Project and this issue, go to http://www.thecensusproject.org/ Please feel free to pass this letter along to your networks. The U.S. Census Bureau also provides information about this issue at http://directorsblog.blogs.census.gov/2012/05/11/a-future-without-key-social-and-economic-statistics-for-the-country/.

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Bad news for California housing groups

May 14, 2012

California housing groups received doubly bad news today as Governor Brown released his revised budget. With state revenues coming in $6 billion below estimate, the Governor announced that he will sweep all remaining housing funds in redevelopment and use all of the state’s mortgage settlement funds to reduce the budget gap. Read Framing the Issues, Vol. 17, Special Edition report from Brian Augusta housing advocate for the Western Center on Law and Poverty. 

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PRESS RELEASE
February 24, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Perfect Storm Hits California's Housing Market:
Senate President pro Tem Steinberg and Senator DeSaulnier Respond
 by Introducing the Housing Opportunity and Market Stabilization (HOMeS) Act

(Sacramento, CA) — Yesterday, California State Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), along with principal co-author Assembly Member Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), introduced legislation to create the Housing Opportunity and Market Stabilization (HOMeS) Act with the goal of creating a permanent funding source for affordable places to live in California.

"California needs a healthy housing market that provides an adequate supply of affordable homes for all Californians," said DeSaulnier. "By identifying a permanent funding source for this vital public service, this bill will ultimately remove affordable housing from protracted and contentious budget debates in Sacramento. With ongoing and permanent funding, affordable housing will become a reality instead of a goal for Californians in need."

Not since Jerry Brown's first governorship has state and local investment in the construction of affordable places to live been so low. At the state level, voter-approved housing-bond funds from Propositions 46 (2002) and 1C (2006) are running dry; while at the local level, the elimination of redevelopment agencies also eliminated California's largest single source of funding for affordable homes. To make matters worse, federal funding has also been cut.

Two of the bills co-sponsors -- Housing California and the California Housing Consortium -- acknowledge that California had a housing crisis long before the mass of foreclosures. The market wasn't meeting the needs of those on fixed incomes and modest budgets. Then the foreclosure crisis hit, creating more renters, who are being pushed into an increasingly expensive rental market. Advocates say that while for-sale prices are dropping, lending requirements have tightened, so homeownership remains out of reach for most of those who want to buy. Tragically, families are now the fastest growing segment of California's homeless population.

At the same time, funding at every level -- federal, state, and local -- used to jumpstart construction of affordable places to live dwindled or vanished all together, creating the perfect storm.    “HOMEs Act offers a statewide solution to ensure that all parts of the state – urban, suburban, and rural – can rebound from the housing crisis.   It will stabilize distressed communities, help restart the housing market, and create jobs,” stated Rob Wiener, Executive Director of the California Coalition for Rural Housing.   

According to Shamus Roller, Executive Director of Housing California, "The legislation takes a significant step towards ending homelessness and helping hundreds of thousands of Californians find safe and affordable homes.  Hardworking families should be able to afford housing and still have money for groceries and other necessities."

"In this difficult state fiscal environment, we thank Senator DeSaulnier for introducing this important bill that begins to address the perfect storm impacting funding for affordable housing in California," said Ray Pearl, executive director of the California Housing Consortium. "This bill goes a long way towards reestablishing an important public-private partnership."

The HOMes Act (SB 1220) will support the development, acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable homes for Californians on fixed incomes and modest budgets, including emergency shelters, transitional and permanent rental housing, foreclosure mitigation, and homeownership opportunities. Funded through a $75 document recording fee on real-estate transactions, the bill would generate an average of $700 million per year for housing affordable to hardworking families, put construction workers back on the job, and boost California's economy by creating millions of dollars in new economic activity.

Karen Naungayan
916.207.9132
knaungayan@housingca.org