Senator Murray: “What Build Back Better will mean is building and repairing 1 million affordable homes across the country—including our nation’s critical public housing infrastructure—boosting housing supply and reducing price pressures for renters and homeowners.”
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, during a call with the National Low Income Housing Coalition, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) discussed her current efforts to secure major federal investments to tackle the housing crisis in Washington state. During the event, Senator Murray highlighted her work to address housing insecurity worsened by the pandemic, as well as her commitment to increasing access to affordable housing options through Democrats’ Build Back Better Act.
“According to Census Bureau data, this fall, nearly one-in-ten renters in Washington state weren’t caught up on rent. So here we are in December on the verge of passing Build Back Better into law,” said Senator Murray. “What Build Back Better will mean is building and repairing 1 million affordable homes across the country—including our nation’s critical public housing infrastructure—boosting housing supply and reducing price pressures for renters and homeowners. More federal dollars for rental assistance, expanding vouchers to hundreds of thousands of additional families—which we have seen are badly needed and make a real difference for the people who can get them. And, it will enable hundreds of thousands of first-generation homebuyers to purchase their first home and build wealth.”
Build Back Better would enable the construction, rehabilitation, and improvement of more than 1 million affordable homes across the country, boosting housing supply and reducing price pressures for renters and homeowners. It would make a historic investment in rental assistance, expanding vouchers to hundreds of thousands of additional families. And, it includes one of the largest investments in down payment assistance in history, enabling hundreds of thousands of first-generation homebuyers to purchase their first home and build wealth.
This legislation would create more equitable communities, through investing in community-led redevelopment projects in historically under-resourced neighborhoods and removing lead paint from hundreds of thousands of homes, as well as by incentivizing state and local zoning reforms that enable more families to reside in higher opportunity neighborhoods.
“Fundamentally, when we lower costs for American families, when we put money back into people’s pockets—the way we will do through Build Back Better—we are making it easier for families to pay rent or buy their first home and build real financial security that can last for generations,” Senator Murray continued.“Now, as we enter the final stretch of the legislative process here, my priority and my commitment to all of you, is to get this bill over the finish line, with all of these life-changing policies that we’ve just discussed, fully intact by the time this legislation gets to President Biden’s desk. So you can count on me to hold the line on affordable housing, on home care, on child care, and so much more that we know families are counting on.”
Senator Murray has consistently worked to address Washington state’s housing crisis, meeting earlier this year with local leaders and housing advocates to push for major federal investments in affordable housing for Washington state residents and families. Earlier this year, she successfully pushed to include a major federal investment in direct support for people facing housing insecurity as part of the American Rescue Plan, including rental, utility, and mortgage assistance, as well as funding for housing authorities to provide more affordable housing and housing solutions for people experiencing homelessness. This included more than $400 million in rental assistance, $170 million in homeowner assistance, over 2,400 new Emergency Housing Vouchers, and nearly $100 million for housing and services to support people experiencing homelessness in Washington state specifically through the American Rescue Plan. This year alone, Senator Murray has also already announced more than $100 million in federal awards to combat housing insecurity and invest in public housing infrastructure across Washington state.
Senator Murray’s remarks as prepared for delivery are included below:
“Thank you to everyone who joined today’s call with the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
“The work you all do is so important to the health and wellbeing of our families and communities.
“As a voice for Washington state, there is not a single community I visit—whether it’s downtown Seattle or the suburbs of Spokane—where the cost of housing is not at the forefront of peoples’ minds.
“In my state, our legislature and local governments continue to make affordable housing a priority.
“Local nonprofits continue to punch above their weight to keep folks safely housed.
“But the truth is, we cannot meet the full scope of the housing crisis in Washington state and America without major federal action.
“I don’t need to tell anyone on this call about how we had a housing crisis well before the pandemic.
“Here in Washington state before COVID, from January 2019 to January 2020, we had the third largest increase in people experiencing homelessness in the country—more than 1,300 additional people without housing.
“But COVID-19 really sent our local communities and housing providers reeling.
“During the pandemic, we’ve seen even more people grapple with housing insecurity and homelessness—especially people of color and people with low incomes.
“Now, the American Rescue Plan made a really big difference—getting shots in arms, getting people back to work, and getting America back up and running again.
“There would be no economic recovery like we’ve seen without the American Rescue Plan.
“I just spoke with constituents from my state last week who credited the American Rescue Plan’s Emergency Housing vouchers with keeping them safely housed and helping them get back on their feet—we know the American Rescue Plan saved millions of lives and livelihoods.
“But the housing relief we secured in that bill—thanks in large part to the successful advocacy of many of you on this call—cannot fully address a problem that we know goes much deeper.
“According to Census Bureau data, this fall, nearly one-in-ten renters in Washington state weren’t caught up on rent.
“So here we are in December on the verge of passing Build Back Better into law.
“It’s made its way through the House and now we’re negotiating and finalizing this bill in the Senate.
“And as of right now, we’ve secured a more than $150 billion investment in housing.
“It’s not everything we wanted when we started this process, but it would still deliver the largest federal investment in affordable housing in our country’s history.
“It’s an important start and we will keep fighting for more.
“But what Build Back Better will mean is building and repairing 1 million affordable homes across the country—including our nation’s critical public housing infrastructure—boosting housing supply and reducing price pressures for renters and homeowners.
“More federal dollars for rental assistance, expanding vouchers to hundreds of thousands of additional families—which we have seen are badly needed and make a real difference for the people who can get them.
“And, it will enable hundreds of thousands of first-generation homebuyers to purchase their first home and build wealth.
“This is more down payment assistance than we’ve ever done.
“As you know, it’s not just about funding, this legislation would create more equitable communities through community-led redevelopment projects in historically under-resourced neighborhoods, removing lead paint from hundreds of thousands of homes, and—importantly—incentivizing state and local zoning reforms that allow more families to live in higher opportunity neighborhoods.
“Now, the parts of Build Back Better that deal with housing are critical.
“We know how absolutely foundational safe housing is to the overall health and wellbeing of our families, but I want to also highlight proposals in Build Back Better that will help keep people housed by lowering other costs.
“Right now, there are families in every part of my state who are spending as much as a third of their income toward child care—more than their already expensive rent or kids’ college tuition.
“My child care proposal caps child care costs for working families at 7%, with a lot of families paying even less or nothing at all for child care. And we’ll also finally be making free, universal pre-k a reality.
“That’s going to save families thousands of dollars—and it’s not just child care. It’s the expanded child tax credit. It’s lower health care costs and prescription drug costs. And it’s investments in home and community-based services.
“Because one of my top priorities is making sure all older Americans and people with disabilities can live independently. Caregiving is a huge part of making that a reality, but affordable housing is also an important part of the solution here.
“Fundamentally, when we lower costs for American families, when we put money back into people’s pockets—the way we will do through Build Back Better—we are making it easier for families to pay rent or buy their first home and build real financial security that can last for generations.
“So now, as we enter the final stretch of the legislative process here, my priority and my commitment to all of you, is to get this bill over the finish line with all of these life-changing policies that we’ve just discussed fully intact by the time this legislation gets to President Biden’s desk.
“So you can count on me to hold the line on affordable housing, on home care, on child care, and so much more that we know families are counting on.
“So thank you to the entire National Low Income Housing Coalition for your tireless efforts.
“I will be fighting right alongside you every step of the way as we get this done.”
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