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HomeMy Public PortalAbout18-9568 Calling on Senator Bill Nelson and the United States Senate to Pass Legislation that will Affirm the Right to all Renters Sponsored by: Commissioner Riley RESOLUTION NO. 18-9568 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OPA- LOCKA, FLORIDA, CALLING ON SENATOR BILL NELSON AND THE UNITED STATES SENATE TO PASS LEGISLATION THAT WILL AFFIRM THE RIGHT OF ALL RENTERS, ESPECIALLY SENIORS, TO A SAFE, AFFORDABLE, AND DECENT HOME; AUTHORIZING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMIT THIS RESOLUTION; PROVIDING FOR INCORPORATION OF RECITALS; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Whereas, housing is a basic human right; and Whereas,the middle class is shrinking, and the tax system seems to help more people at the top than at the bottom of the income scale and for the last generation, most Americans have not seen their real earnings rise, but their bills are going up every month, and the costs of housing, healthcare, and childcare are pushing more and more families out of the middle class; and Whereas, in 2015, 38 percent of all U.S. renters were "rent burdened" meaning families had to spend over 30% of their earnings on rent and the number of renters who are "severely rent burdened" (spending 50 percent or more of their monthly income on rent) went up 42% between 2001 and 2015; and Whereas, evidence-based research has shown that families with safe, decent, and affordable homes are better able to find employment, achieve economic mobility, perform better in school, and maintain improved health; and Whereas, investing in affordable housing strengthens our economy, creates jobs, boosts families' incomes, and encourages further development; and Whereas, far too many families living in urban, suburban, and rural communities struggle to afford their rent each month, putting them at increased risk of eviction and homelessness; Whereas, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) point-in-time count of 2016, there were 549,928 people in the United States experiencing homelessness on any given night, including over 120,000 children; Whereas homelessness has become so pervasive that some States and cities have declared that homelessness has reached a state of emergency; and Whereas, major progress towards the national goals for ending homelessness in our Nation has stalled in the absence of increased funding; and Whereas, a shortage of affordable housing exists in every State and major metropolitan area; and Resolution No. 18-9568 Whereas, a full-time worker earning the Federal minimum wage cannot afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in any State, metropolitan area, or county in the United States; Whereas over half of all renters are cost-burdened, paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing, and 71 percent of extremely low-income households are severely cost-burdened, paying more than half of their income for housing; and Whereas, rapidly rising rents across the country have pushed many long-time residents and families out of the communities they call home; Whereas closed waiting lists and long waits mean only a quarter of the families who qualify for housing assistance actually receive it; and Whereas, the role of Federal affordable housing investments is even more important given the limited ability of the private market alone to address these needs; and Whereas, various programs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development help to subsidize housing for more than 4,000,000 low-income families, including the Public Housing program, the Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) program, the Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance program, the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program, the Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program, and the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program; and Whereas, despite leveraging billions of dollars in private resources to preserve and expand the supply of affordable housing, affordable housing programs continue to be chronically underfunded despite their success at providing safe housing to families in need; and Whereas, chronic underfunding of the Public Housing Capital Fund has led to a backlog of more than $26,000,000,000 in capital repairs and deteriorating conditions for residents; and Whereas, without Federal investments, many more families would be homeless, living in substandard or overcrowded conditions, or struggling to meet other basic needs because too much of their limited income would be used to pay rent; and Whereas, low Federal spending caps required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-25) have decreased funding for affordable housing and community development programs; and Whereas, these austere spending caps threaten affordable housing and community development for millions of low income families; and Whereas, even renters with housing subsidies often face barriers to finding housing providers willing to rent to them; and Whereas, under current Federal law, housing discrimination against a renter is illegal if it is based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, or disability; and Whereas, renters should be protected against housing discrimination through stronger enforcement of fair housing laws; and Resolution No. 18-9568 Whereas, despite various clarifying memos from HUD, the reentry community continues to face barriers in trying to secure access to federally assisted housing. NOW THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OPA-LOCKA, FLORIDA: Section 1. The foregoing Whereas clauses are hereby ratified and incorporated as the legislative intent of this Resolution. Section 2. The City Commission of the City of Opa-locka: (1) supports lifting the spending caps required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 and robustly funding programs to increase access to affordable housing and address homelessness at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and other Federal agencies; (2) opposes any cuts to Federal investments in 10 affordable housing programs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other Federal 12 agencies; (3) supports increased funding to the Public Housing Capital Fund to address the backlog of capital repairs for public housing; (4) supports expanded funding for the National Housing Trust Fund to boost the supply of afford able housing available to extremely low-income families; (5) supports efforts to preserve and rehabilitate existing housing to maintain and increase the available stock of affordable housing and proposals by local entities to prevent any net loss of overall af12 fordable housing units receiving Federal subsidies; (6) supports strengthened Federal fair housing laws; (7) affirms that renters may not be barred from federally assisted housing solely on the basis of a criminal record; (8) supports expansion of renters' rights, including the right of tenants to organize tenant associations; and (9) affirms that housing is a basic human right. Section 3 The City Clerk is hereby directed to distribute this Resolution to Senator Bill Nelson, the United States Congressional Delegations from Florida, the National League of Cities, the Florida League of Cities, the Miami-Dade County Legislative Delegation, Resolution No. 18-9568 and the Miami-Dade League of Cities. Section 4. This Resolution shall be effective immediately upon its passage. PASSED AND ADOPTED THIS 24th DAY OCTOBER, 2018. �// .L 1 I� I ra Ta for Mayor Attest to: Approved as to form and legal sufficiency: li (.- -k-ADA-r"-% _.--- _ Joan Flores The Brown Law Group, LLC City V lerk City Attorney Moved by: COMMISSIONER RILEY Seconded by: COMMISSIONER HOLMES Commissioner Vote: 5-0 Commissioner Holmes: YES Commissioner Riley: YES Commissioner Pigatt: YES Vice Mayor Kelley: YES Mayor Taylor: YES