U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), chair of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, is urging President Joe Biden and Democratic congressional leaders to include the Committee-passed housing provisions in the Build Back Better Act.
“As we continue to work together to pass a broad-ranging and comprehensive infrastructure plan, we cannot ignore the immediate housing infrastructure needs facing individuals, families, and communities throughout the United States,” wrote Waters and the Democratic members of the committee to Biden, House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “This is especially true for low-income people and families of color who disproportionately lack equitable access to housing opportunities due to an ongoing history of discriminatory policies and federal underinvestment in their communities’ needs.”
Committee Democrats passed the Financial Services Committee Title of the Build Back Better Act on Sept. 13 to provide investments in housing resources, such as affordable housing, down payment assistance, and efforts to end homelessness.
“Just as we need to invest in our nation’s roads and bridges, it is also absolutely essential that we invest in our nation’s affordable housing … As members of the House Financial Services Committee, we can affirm that a comprehensive approach to infrastructure includes a robust investment in our nation’s affordable housing stock and that a comprehensive approach to our social safety net includes investment in affordable housing. Housing is health care, it is stability for children, it is climate justice, and it is racial justice. This is an investment that simply cannot wait and must be included at robust levels in the budget reconciliation package,” Waters and her colleagues wrote in the Oct. 6 letter.
The letter was signed by every Democratic member of the committee.