Senators Hassan, Shaheen Join in Introducing Bipartisan Legislation to Establish Affordable Housing Task Force
WASHINGTON — Senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen this week joined a group of their colleagues in reintroducing the bipartisan Task Force on the Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis Act, which aims to better understand and respond to America’s housing affordability crisis by creating a bipartisan housing task force.
The task force would evaluate and quantify the impact of housing costs on other government programs, and provide recommendations to Congress on how to increase affordable housing options in order to improve life outcomes. The legislation was introduced by Senators Todd Young (R-IN), Angus King (I-ME), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
“Ensuring that all hard-working Granite Staters and Americans have a stable, affordable place to call home is critical to the strength of our communities and our economy,” Senator Hassan said. “I have also heard from businesses across our state that one of their most pressing challenges is a shortage of affordable housing for their prospective employees. This bipartisan legislation will establish a task force that will help the federal government determine how best to expand affordable housing options to more people in New Hampshire and across the country.”
“Finding affordable housing is a challenge for too many families in communities all over the Granite State,” Senator Shaheen said. “The Affordable Housing Task Force would provide valuable data to Congress as we work on solutions to this important issue. Every American should have a safe and stable place to call their home, and this bipartisan effort is an important step towards that goal.”
Specifically, the task force will:
1. Evaluate and quantify the impact that a lack of affordable housing has on other areas of life and life outcomes for individuals living in the United States, including education, employment, income level, health, nutrition, access to transportation, and poverty level in the neighborhood in which individuals live, regional economic growth, and neighborhood and rural community stability and revitalization.
2. Evaluate and quantify the costs incurred by other Federal, State, and local programs due to a lack of affordable housing.
3. Make recommendations to Congress on how to use affordable housing to improve the effectiveness of other Federal programs and improve life outcomes for individuals living in the United States.
The Task Force on the Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis Act includes supporters from over 70 organizations. For a full list of supporters, click here.
For the full bill text, click here.
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