Rashida Tlaib: “No one can disagree that we are facing a housing crisis in our country. Today, the average renter now pays over 30…”

“No one can disagree that we are facing a housing crisis in our country. Today, the average renter now pays over 30 percent of their income toward rent, and 78 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. In metro Detroit alone, there are three extremely low-income renter households for each unit that is both affordable and available. Our investments in public housing have long been insufficient. The Detroit Housing Commission needs hundreds of millions of dollars in capital improvements, but they only have $12 million annually to spend. I introduced the Public Housing for the 21st Century Act to ensure that public housing developers have access to the latest, best practices using local policy tools and financing. When it comes to homeownership, after the 2008 financial crisis, Michigan experienced the largest decrease in Black homeownership compared to any other State in the country. The Black homeownership rates in Wayne and Oakland counties in my district dropped more than 10 percentage points. This is a crisis that must be addressed. This is Fair Housing Month. I am urging my colleagues to please support the largest investment in funding for HUD's affordable housing and homelessness programs for the next fiscal year. ____________________”