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Press Room

Housing Priority Not Evident in President's State of the Union Address

Contact: Mary Barron, 202-289-3500 ext. 280

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -- The following is a statement from Saul N. Ramirez, Jr., Executive Director of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO):

In his State of the Union Address, President Bush addressed several critical challenges facing our country, including healthcare costs, energy issues, and continued unrest in the Middle East. NAHRO agrees these issues are of great importance. However, we are concerned that the nation's affordable housing crisis was not identified as one of the key challenges facing our country in a time where one in eight Americans has no choice but to pay 50% or more of their income for housing*, and thousands are on long waiting lists for housing assistance.

We must make quality affordable housing a national priority.

We must preserve our nation's current investment in affordable housing, while at the same time producing more homes to meet local demand. Nowhere is this need more clearly illustrated than in the nation's Gulf region. NAHRO calls upon the administration to address the urgent need to replace public and assisted housing units lost in Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita, and specifically to take action to repair damaged public and assisted units to meet critical local housing needs. Legislation currently pending before Congress, HR 4100 and S 2172 (sponsored by Representative Richard Baker and Senator Mary Landrieu, respectively), would authorize resources necessary to accomplish this important task.

On a national level, we must support and encourage the growth and development of quality communities, so that all Americans not only have quality affordable housing, but educational, employment and civic opportunities in their communities as well. Increased support for the Community Development Block Grant program, for example, would empower communities to create and retain jobs, and assist households at a low-to-moderate range of incomes.

Finally, while homeownership is a valuable tool for families and communities, we need to address a wider range of housing needs. Quality rental housing provides one step towards stable homeownership. Increased federal housing investments in programs such as public housing, the Housing Choice Voucher program, and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits will help struggling Americans to acquire stable living environments, work toward homeownership, and achieve self-sufficiency.

The nation faces myriad issues and challenges everyday. We at NAHRO believe that housing working families and those unable to access more than assisted housing-including lower-income seniors and people with disabilities-should be at the top of the President's agenda.

*State of the Nation's Housing 2005, Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. www.jchs.harvard.edu