Representatives of NLIHC’s state coalition partner organizations from around the country convened on April 2-3 for a series of peer-learning and sharing sessions on the latest policy developments on Capitol Hill, the Administration and in their states. Thirty state coalition partners from 27 states participated.
The convening kicked off with briefings on the FY17 federal budget, the prospects on housing finance reform, legislative threats to the National Housing Trust Fund, and the status of priority affordable housing legislation. State coalition partners and invited guests then facilitated three discussion sessions on topics of priority interest to the attendees.
Tristia Bauman, senior attorney at the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, led a session on the criminalization of homelessness. Ms. Bauman shared analysis of a recent U.S. Department of Justice order that prohibits cities and local governments criminalizing homelessness from receiving federal funding. She also shared her thoughts on how statewide organizations can use this new order to challenge local policies that are hostile to homeless individuals.
Neighborhood Partnerships of Oregon Housing Policy Director Jenny Lee and Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing Executive Director Alan Greenlee co-facilitated a session on the homeless states of emergency recently declared in their jurisdictions and in the state of Hawaii, with a focus on state and federal resources that may be made available by such declarations.
Minnesota Housing Partnership Executive Director Chip Halbach led a session on the increasing strains of already tight rental markets and strategies for the preservation of non-subsidized lower-rent housing. Mr. Halbach shared insights about a fair housing lawsuit filed by legal advocates in the Twin Cities against one developer who is rehabilitating a multifamily property and causing major community displacement there.
State coalition partners spent Sunday morning, April 3, sharing state updates on policy and advocacy efforts taking place in their states and received briefings from NLIHC staff on recent and upcoming research efforts of the Coalition, the state of the FY17 federal budget appropriations, and reflections from Sheila Crowley and Diane Yentel, outgoing and incoming NLIHC CEOs, on the NLIHC leadership transition.