Pappas Joins Effort Urging the President to Immediately Address the Housing Crisis

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), a member of the New Dems Coalition, joined 51 New Dems members in a letter to President Trump urging the Administration to take immediate steps to help make housing more affordable and accessible for more Americans.

The letter lays out eight commonsense and immediate steps the Administration could take to address the ongoing housing crisis. The letter comes as the Secretary of the Treasury has indicated the Administration is planning to declare a “national housing emergency” to address rising costs, while refusing to take quick and decisive actions to actually bring down the cost of housing.

The letter reads in part: “We agree with the Secretary’s comments that this is an ‘all hands on deck’ challenge and believe there are concrete steps the Administration and Congress should take to meet this ongoing crisis. However, details on actual policies that would expand affordable housing options have not been provided. In fact, recently announced policies at the Department of Housing and Urban Development would do the opposite, and reverse progress made in fighting homelessness and go against Congressional instruction.”

The recommendations include restoring funding for Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) homelessness programs, lowering tariffs on construction materials to decrease costs, improving data collection and transparency, and prioritizing reforms to planning, permitting, and zoning.

You can read the full letter here.