OurHomesOurVotes2020 November Newsletter

Will the presidential debate moderators ask the candidates about their proposed solutions to the housing crisis facing millions?

Tonight, ten candidates will take the stage for the fifth Democratic presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia. Most of the candidates participating in the debate have released robust plans or proposals to address the nation’s growing housing affordability crisis. Will the presidential debate moderators ask the candidates about their proposed solutions to the housing crisis facing millions – and the differences between them? Will the candidates find a way to bring up their affordable housing proposals?

More than 1,000 organizations are calling on the moderators of tonight’s, Democratic presidential debate to ask the candidates about their solutions to the housing affordability crisis. The letter - sent on November 13, to the debate moderators Rachel Maddow, host of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC; Andrea Mitchell, host of Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC and NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent; Kristen Welker, NBC News White House correspondent; and Ashley Parker, Washington Post White House reporter - urges the moderators to ask each candidate: “How will you address the nation's affordable housing crisis?”

Twelve presidential candidates have released plans and proposals to address the U.S. housing affordability crisis, with most centering on the needs of the lowest-income renters and people experiencing homelessness, and several candidates mentioned affordable housing during the past debates. The moderators of first four Democratic presidential debates failed, however, to directly ask the candidates what they would do to address homelessness and housing poverty in America. Voters and advocates alike want to know where the candidates stand on housing!

Read the letter here

November Democratic Debate puts Georgia in the National Spotlight

Bambie Hayes-Brown, president and CEO of Georgia Advancing Communities Together, Inc., published a blog article on November 6, titled “Georgia ACT Op-Ed on Housing Affordability and the 2020 Elections.” The article calls on the moderators of the fifth presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, to recognize the severe shortage of affordable housing in Georgia and throughout the country.

“We challenge the moderators of the next debate to change this troubling trend of ignoring a topic that impacts all aspects of a person’s well-being—affordable housing,” writes Ms. Hayes-Brown.  “Ending the shortage of affordable homes is a crucial issue voters care about and [they] want to hear solutions discussed on the national debate stage.”

The location of the November Democratic Debate puts Georgia in the national spotlight. As a partner of the Our Homes, Our Votes: 2020 project, Georgia ACT is using this opportunity to expand the spotlight beyond Georgia and beyond the topics already discussed during the first four debates.

We join Georgia ACT in urging the moderators of the November debate to address this critically important issue on the national stage. 

Read the op-ed here.

Planning to Watch the November Debate? Download a Democratic Debate Watch Guide Today!

The next Democratic presidential debate will take place tonight from 9:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. ET in Atlanta, Georgia. The NLIHC-led Our Homes, Our Votes: 2020 nonpartisan voter and candidate engagement project provides fact sheets of each candidates’ housing plans as well as a Democratic Debate Watch Guide for advocates to use while viewing the debates. We will be watching; join us on social media at #DemDebates and #OurHomesOurVotes2020

Third Thursdays at Three! Register for November 21 Webinar on Our Homes, Our Votes: 2020

NLIHC will offer a webinar on “Helpful Tools and Partners for Election Engagement” on November 21 at 3:00 p.m. ET.  This offering is part of a 15-month “Third Thursdays at Three” webinar and podcast series on nonpartisan voter and candidate engagement. All webinars are free to the public. Register for the webinar and the entire webinar series at: https://tinyurl.com/y3t9gfr2

NLIHC provides an array of nonpartisan resources, tools, and training on increasing voter registration and turnout rates among low-income renters and on engaging candidates leading up to the 2020 elections, including these webinars and podcasts covering many facets of voter and candidate engagement, featuring experts and advocates with frontline experience.

The presentations take place at 3:00 p.m. ET on the third Thursday of each month. All sessions will be recorded and posted to the Our Homes, Our Votes: 2020 website for those who cannot attend the live broadcasts.

See full list of webinar topics and watch recordings of previous webinars at: https://bit.ly/338Ydho

Register once for all webinars and receive reminders at: https://tinyurl.com/y3t9gfr2

Presidential Candidates Release Affordable Housing Plans

Most 2020 presidential candidates have released bold plans to address the nation’s affordable housing crisis. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren

On November 18, 2019, presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) released a plan that would expand tenant protections and builds on her proposal to address the affordable housing crisis. Her plan dedicates $500 billion over the next ten years to build, preserve, and rehab more than three million homes affordable to lower income families. She further proposes to condition this funding to states that affirmatively adopt key tenant protections, including a right to lease renewal, protections against constructive eviction, and tenants’ right to organize. The expanded proposal would create a new tenants’ cause of action that allows tenants to sue landlords who threaten or begin an illegal eviction; would create a new Tenant Protection Bureau to enforce tenants’ rights; and much more.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg

In a visit to New Hampshire on November 8, 2019, democratic presidential candidate and mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg unveiled a plan to invest more than $430 billion on programs to lower housing costs. Buttigieg’s plan proposes to “unlock access to affordable housing for over 7 million families” and to increase the supply of affordable housing by building and restoring over 2 million more homes for low-income Americans.

Senator Michael Bennet

On October 10, presidential candidate Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) released a plan that would build more affordable homes for the lowest-income people in America through an investment of $400 billion over ten years in the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF). The plan would also dramatically increase the supply of opportunity housing vouchers – to allow families to access areas of opportunity - to eventually “meet the full demand for all eligible families” within 15 years. The senator’s plan also includes measures to reduce exclusionary zoning, ban source-of-income discrimination, expand the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program and Capital Magnet Fund, create a $7.5 billion per-year grant program for housing with supportive services, reform federal housing tax incentives, and more.

Our Homes, Our Votes: 2020 ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) Media Coverage"

• Here are the 2020 presidential candidates’ plans for affordable housing," Housing Wire, October 10 at:  http://bit.ly/377jmLB"

• The Question the Presidential Candidates Don't Get Asked," CityLab.com, September 13 at: https://tinyurl.com/y6k9a23j"

• Candidates, it's time to talk about housing," Curbed.com, September 12 at: https://tinyurl.com/yxgr87et"

• It's time to ask the affordable housing question," New Hampshire Business Review, September 9 at: https://tinyurl.com/y64wj5le

Read the Newsletter here