Housing is an inherent human right. It is past time that our federal laws recognized that truth and eradicated the systemic racial inequities in housing affordability and access. The generational impacts of redlining - i.e. the century-old practice of state-sponsored housing segregation by race - continue to play an outsized role in worsening racial wealth gaps, aided by gentrification policies that have displaced low-income communities of color. 

Background

When it comes to housing affordability and houselessness, Los Angeles is ground zero. According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), over 66,000 people in Los Angeles County are houseless - the second highest rate in the nation. From 2019 to 2020, every city council district in the San Fernando Valley saw rates of our unhoused community members increase - some as high as by 25% such as in Chatsworth and Canoga Park. Even more alarming is that these rates preceded the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused a nearly three-fold increase in unemployment rates in Los Angeles County from roughly 4% in January 2020 to 11.8% by September 2020.

Like most crises, LA’s housing crisis falls on racial fault lines. Black Angelenos makeup under 8% of the city population, but nearly 34% of our unhoused. Further, Black and Latinx Angelenos collectively comprise about 56% of the county population, yet nearly 70% of our unhoused. Our unhoused are disproportionately impacted by mental illness, substance use, and police brutality. In fact, 1 in 3 instances of “use of excessive force” by the LAPD were against an unhoused individual. 

These housing challenges are made worse by a toxic combination of widening wealth gaps and a striking lack of affordable housing across our district, the city, and the state of California. The median home price in Los Angeles is roughly $715,000 - requiring a salary of $116,000 or more to afford. Yet the median annual income for Latinx Angelenos is about $47,000, and less than $42,000 for Black Angelenos. Similarly, 54% of people in Los Angeles County are renters, with a median fair market price of $1,956 for a 2-bedroom apartment according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). In order to avoid paying over 30% of income to rent, an individual in Los Angeles would need to make nearly $38 an hour - more than 2.5 times the minimum wage of $15 in the city.

Meanwhile, federal funding for housing assistance has stagnated in recent decades while need has skyrocketed. In the $1.4 trillion omnibus Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 appropriations package Congress passed in December 2020, only $49.6 billion - or 3.5% - was for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), federal housing assistance has dropped from a high of 1.4% of GDP in 1978 to 0.23% of GDP in 2018. According to the Urban Institute, housing needs for low income renters increased by 24% from 2005 to 2015, while the number of households receiving HUD assistance increased by only 7% during the same time period. Moreover, when adjusted for inflation, federal funding for housing support dropped by nearly 8% across most programs including housing choice vouchers, housing for the elderly and disabled, public housing, and public-private housing partnership programs.

These challenges won’t be solved by small ideas, or by incrementalism. They require bold, transformative action. 

vision

In 2016, the median net worth of white families was nearly ten times higher than Black Americans and over eight times higher than Latinx Americans. We must champion a national housing-first model and a new federal Tenant Bill of Rights. Our housing policy platform calls for enactment of the following policy changes:

Repeal the Faircloth Amendment and fully fund the repair and maintenance costs of existing public housing through green, energy-efficient improvements.

• An austerity measure passed under the Clinton-era, the Faircloth Amendment has effectively banned the construction of public housing over the past two decades beyond their 1999 levels. Further, most public housing in the United States was built in the 1970s and never meaningfully updated, creating a significant backlog of repair and maintenance needs. It is critical that we fully fund those repairs through renewable energy and green infrastructure investments.

Combat harmful and discriminatory state laws like the Costa Hawkins Act and Ellis Act by advocating for a federal Tenant Bill of Rights

• The Costa Hawkins Act restricts localities in California from enacting rent-control laws while banning so-called vacancy controls which prohibit corporate landlords from raising rents on vacant units. Similarly, the Ellis Act permits landlords to evict tenants if they want to sell their building.

• These laws give immense power to corporate landlords and developers to evict primarily low-income tenants with impunity, while worsening California’s affordable housing crisis. Congress can and must step in by strengthening federal protections for tenants to override these discriminatory state laws.

Provide full, permanent, entitlement-based funding for public housing agencies (PHAs), housing voucher programs, and Native American and Native Hawaiian housing programs.

• Nearly 2 million people are on the waitlist for Section 8 housing vouchers due to stagnant federal funding - a backlog that could last years and leave individuals and families in desperation. It is past due for Congress to fully fund these essential programs.

• The United States has treaty and trust obligations to fund housing programs for Native Americans, but for too long has underfunded these through the annual appropriations process. Permanently reauthorizing both and moving them to entitlement funding would honor our promises to Indigenous Peoples.

Provide a universal basic income of $1,000 monthly for every American - documented or undocumented.

• Universal basic income (UBI) is a necessary tool for economic revitalization, and eradication of racial wealth disparities and poverty. Too many families are on the verge of economic ruin by virtue of a single major expense, and have to decide between food security and paying rent. UBI would give struggling families a leg up to live with dignity and improve their quality of life. Our platform calls for $1,000 in monthly UBI for every American regardless of immigration status. 

Ban “exclusionary zoning” and strongly incentivize inclusionary zoning.

• Exclusionary zoning is one of the most pernicious forms of redlining and state-sponsored segregation. Exclusionary zoning laws have worsened racial wealth and housing gaps for generations by allowing local governments to only authorize construction of single-family homes in certain neighborhoods, impose minimum square footage or building height requirements, and other ordinances that limit the construction of multi-family units and other forms of affordable housing, such as tiny homes. 

• We must strongly incentivize inclusionary zoning by requiring state and local government access to adopt such practices in order to access federal funds. 

Ban discrimination based on tenant source of income, including public assistance.

• A major barrier to housing for low-income communities of color is the fact that landlords can deny units if a potential renter receives federal housing assistance, like a Section 8 voucher. These discriminatory policies must be abolished.

Provide a tax break to renters paying over 30% of income to rent.

• Rising rental costs and stagnant wages have left millions of renters paying a greater share of their income to rent. We can mitigate this financial strain by providing renters with a tax refund for the amount paid towards rent that exceeds 30% of their income. 

Prohibit landlords from enacting annual rent increases above 3% unless significant building improvements are made.

• Too many predatory landlords are exploiting tenants by raising rent but failing to make a single change to housing units. Congress must step in and impose a national cap on rent increases at 3%, but allow for exemptions for landlords to raise rent by up to 5% if done in tandem with significant improvements to housing structure (i.e. maintenance, upgrades, transition to renewable energy sources, utility coverage, etc.). 

Strengthen protections for LGBTQ+ individuals by closing loopholes that allow discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation and establish and fully fund a new federal housing program for LGBTQ+ communities and youth.

• LGBTQ+ individuals, especially trans people of color, face significant discrimination in housing whereby landlords deny them available units, arbitrarily increase rental costs, sexually harass, or otherwise. 

• In addition, LGBTQ+ communities and youth are disproportionately impacted by houselessness. In fact, up to 40% of all unhoused youth nationwide are estimated to be LGBTQ+. Congress must establish and fully fund a separate and dedicated federal housing program to eradicate houselessness within LGBTQ+ communities. 

Establish and fully fund a new federal housing program for the formerly incarcerated and eliminate all eligibility barriers for federal housing assistance. 

• Formerly incarcerated individuals are disproportionately impacted by houselessness, and ensuring access to permanent housing is one of the strongest tools against recidivism. We must establish and fully fund a new federal housing program to construct green, energy-efficient housing units for formerly incarcerated individuals. 

Ban “no-cause” evictions.

• While Los Angeles City ordinances provide some protections to tenants, landlords retain broad discretion to evict renters without just cause. For example, landlords can evict low-income tenants in order to make space available for higher-income renters, or to demolish the unit entirely. 

Ban “no fault” and “1-strike” evictions.

• These harmful policies allow evictions even for very minor crimes or when a tenant’s guest commits a crime in the household. 

Eliminate all legal barriers to federal housing assistance eligibility for undocumented immigrants.

• Undocumented immigrants pay into our economy with a total spending power of over $200 billion annually, but are shut out of accessing the same government services as citizens. Meanwhile, billionaires who dodge their federal tax responsibilities are still entitled to them. That is absurd, and inequitable. 

• Ensuring undocumented immigrants can access federal housing would both address longstanding barriers in economic growth for the community, and  affirm the critical role that our undocumented immigrants play in stimulating our economy.