As of January 1, 2020, California has a state-wide law prohibiting landlords from rejecting potential tenants solely on their use of a housing voucher. The law, known as Source of Income (SOI) protection, replaces SOI ordinances that were previously in place in several California cities, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Clara County to cover voucher holders across the state.
On December 20, President Trump signed HR 1865, the “FY2020 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act” the second minibus funding bill for FY20 containing appropriations for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), among others. The bill was signed into law (PL 116-94) with just hours to go before the continuing resolution keeping the government funded expired at midnight.
On January 14 at 10:00 a.m. ET, the House Committees on Financial Services and Veterans Affairs will each hold hearings on critical housing assistance issues.
The most recent issue of Cityscape, the journal from HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research, is devoted to research on the impacts and implementation of Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs).
In response to the tragic high-rise fire in Minneapolis last month, Minnesota Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar introduced the Public Housing Fire Safety Act of 2019 this week. The bill would create a new competitive grant program to provide funds to PHAs who wish to retrofit older high-rise apartment buildings with sprinkler systems.
On Tuesday, December 10, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced the Affordable Housing for Educational Achievement Demonstration (AHEAD) Act, legislation intended to encourage public housing authorities and school districts to work together to address child and family homelessness through a federal grant program.