Neighborhood Partnerships

The short February legislative session was a whirlwind of activity. Neighborhood Partnerships was active in the session in partnership with the Housing Alliance as well as in support of the issue priorities we identified with our partners in Oregon Thrives.

The Housing Alliance members had a very short list of priorities going into the session, and all made it successfully through session. One is still awaiting a signature by the Governor.

• SB 1013 protects tenants living in foreclosed properties. This bill cleared up some technical issues in the bill passed in 2009.
• SB 1015 extends the sunset date on a statute enabling local governments to provide property tax exemptions to non-profit owned multi-family affordable housing, and provides clearer legal authority for some existing property tax exemptions in Multnomah County.
• HB 3640, once it is signed by the Governor, will provide personal property tax relief to owners of manufactured homes valued at less than $12,500 in the four largest counties in the state—Multnomah, Washington, Lane, and Clackamas.

Oregon Thrives allies worked hard to build momentum for an expansion of Oregon’s Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Janet Byrd of NP presented testimony in support of the expansion, which would put money back into the budgets of low income working households statewide, and help them better weather financial stresses. Janet also testified in support of the Oregon Hunger Task Force’s new plan to end hunger in five years.  That report calls out financial asset building, among other strategies, as a key policy to end hunger.

The legislative focus will turn now to 2011. Candidates have all filed now for state and local races, and are gearing up for the primary election on May 18, 2010. Be sure to ask your legislative candidates what they plan to do to create opportunity in Oregon!

On Friday, February 12 constituents gathered in Salem for Oregon Thrives’ “Have a Heart Day” in honor of Oregon’s 151st birthday and Valentine’s Day.  Oregon Thrivesis an emerging coalition of advocacy and service organizations in Oregon, and Neighborhood Partnerships is a founding member and participates in the steering committee.  NP staff went to Salem to participate in the event and encourage legislators to have a heart and remember Oregon’s most vulnerable citizens during this special legislative session and these difficult economic times.

After a brief discussion of the day’s issues and schedule, close to 100 constituents left to talk with 65 of their Senators and Representatives.  We spoke to our elected representatives about critical issues facing hard working Oregonians such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Employment Related Day Care (ERDC), and the Emergency Housing Account.  Constituents also passed out Valentine messages thanking legislators for remembering hard working Oregonians during this special legislative session.

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon led an interfaith prayer vigil on the steps of the Capitol, drawing attention to the many homeless school children and families.  The vigil was preceded by a conversation focusing on ways to work with schools to serve their homeless students, as well as policy and funding issues.  Janet Byrd lent her expertise to the discussion, focusing on policy and NP’s extensive experience with the issue of family homelessness as a result of its involvement with Bridges to Housing. This discussion was spurred by the 18,000 school-aged children who were homeless for at least some part of the 2008-2009 school year.  The group is planning an interfaith summit on child and family homelessness in late spring.

The afternoon ended with a legislative hearing on increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).  Oregon is one of the few states where income tax is still applied to low-income families.  Multiple testimonies cited the ways in which EITC eases the burden on those in Oregon’s lowest tax brackets.  Expanding Oregon’s EITC was the first recommendation made by the Corporation for Enterprise Development in their Assets for Opportunity Scorecard suggesting how Oregon could improve its climate for its most financially vulnerable citizens.  Increasing the EITC from six percent of the federal credit by three points each year until it reaches 18% in 2014 would benefit over 220,000 households throughout Oregon.  It would also help to boost the local economy as EITC dollars are often spent locally and quickly.

Have a Heart Day was a great success!  Together with Oregon Thrives and their other partners we were able to thank many members of the Oregon State Legislature, reminding them to have a heart during the remainder of the February session to ensure that all Oregonians have an opportunity to thrive.

Efforts are underway at the national level to fund the National Housing Trust Fund.  The House of Representatives recently passed the “Jobs for Main Street Act” (HR 2847) which would provide $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund, as well as $65 million for project-based housing voucher programs.  However, whether these funds will be included in the Senate version of the bill is still unclear.

A National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) would provide significant benefit to Oregon.  As the bill stands currently, the bill would provide $15 million to Oregon per $1 billion allocated to the trust fund.  These funds would be used to provide housing to those at the lowest incomes – 30% of area median income or lower.   We here in Oregon know that housing gives people an opportunity to build better lives, and we believe that funding the NHTF would provide much needed resources to Oregon.

We want to thank our Senators, especially Senator Jeff Merkley, who recently initiated a letter to President Obama asking that $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund be included in the President’s budget that he will submit to Congress on February 1. Senator Merkley has asked fellow Senators to sign the letter with him. Senator Wyden of Oregon has signed on as well.

Other efforts are moving forward to ensure the Senate provides funding for the National Housing Trust Fund, including a letter by Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) which asks fellow Senators to request that the Senate also provide $1 billion for the NHTF and $65 million in housing vouchers.  Read the letter here.

Want to help? Be sure to contact Senator Merkley and thank him for his work to date to make funding for the NHTF a reality. You can also ask whether Senator Merkley is planning to sign onto the letter from Senator Reed.  Senator Wyden has already signed on to this letter.

Want to learn more? Check out the Center for Community Change website or listen to the audio of a call hosted on Tuesday, 1/19/2010 by the National Low Income Housing Coalition in which their President, Sheila Crowley brings us up to date on the latest news.

************

Subscribe to our blog or find us on Facebook!

I recently had the pleasure of hearing Professor Myron Orfield speak at Portland State University’s “What’s the Big Idea?” Lecture Series, co-sponsored by Coalition for a Livable Future.   Professor Orfield teaches at the University of Minnesota and was a former Minnesota State Legislator.

Professor Orfield titled his talk “Creating Successful Communities: Sharing the Benefits and Burdens of a Growing Region.”  He spoke about all of the many things Portland has done well, from an urban planning perspective – our success with an urban growth boundary, controlling sprawl, concentrating housing and jobs in the inner city and along transit lines. He repeatedly called Portland an urban planners “utopia.”  This is high praise indeed – and it’s true, Portland has done a good job of all of these things.  We have created and have to date maintained a successful urban growth boundary.  We’ve worked to build mass-transit options, and we’ve built in-fill housing and even managed to place a significant percentage of our affordable housing in the urban center and on transit lines.

Unfortunately, Portland isn’t a utopia for too many of our citizens.  We have a shortage of safe, decent affordable housing and increasingly, communities of color and poor communities are being pushed away from jobs and transportation options in search of affordable places to live.   Professor Orfield demonstrated this last problem in particular – providing data on the significant increase over the past few years of minority students and students who qualify for free and reduced lunches in suburban schools.  The increase has been fast and significant, and is likely to continue.

While Portland faces many challenges, creating opportunity for all of its citizens is a critical one we must choose to address.  Fortunately, there are ways we can address this challenge.

Myron Orfield spoke about one solution we have talked a lot about in recent years. We can address this challenge in part by increasing the supply of affordable housing across the metro area.  Increasing the supply of affordable housing throughout Portland will ensure families have more choices about where to live – and where to send their children to school.  Housing is needed near transit lines, employment centers and schools throughout the region.

He also spoke about a policy I haven’t thought much about, but which I would love to explore further. He argues that we can also address this challenge by considering changes to our school districts and enrollment policies.  Other municipalities such as Louisville, Kentucky and Raleigh, North Carolina have made improvements to ensure integrated schools.  These changes address both racial and economic integration and have increased access to opportunity for children while stabilizing neighborhoods.

Its time to move forward in creating opportunity for all Oregonians.

Read the Oregonian’s article about Professor Orfield’s visit to Portland.

New – Subscribe to our blog or become our fan on Facebook!

I was struck by this opinion piece in today’s Oregonian by Larry Wallack, now Dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs at Portland State University.

I had the pleasure of working with Larry beginning in 2004 as a group of us worked to hone messages that would help us build affordable housing champions. One of the outcomes or byproducts of that working group on messages was the Housing Alliance, and the commitment to collaboration for the greater good that has always guided our work. I’m not sure we can give Larry credit for all of our successful collaboration, but he certainly inspired us to define a unified agenda, taught us the value of message discipline and helped inspire us to pull towards a common goal.

Yes, collaboration does feel good, especially when we look at the results, and the ever-increasing visibility and impact of the coalition.  And even a chocolate lover like me has to admit that the benefits – to Oregonians who need a place to call home – are even better than chocolate.

Housing Alliance Results:

2005:    Regular Session

• Expansion of the Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit cap by $2 million

2007:    Regular Session

• $26 million in new one time funding to house working families, seniors, veterans and people with disabilities, and to preserve existing housing.
• Another $2 million expansion for the Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit.
• Protections for renters displaced by condo conversion.
• Improved protection for manufactured home park residents.

2008:     Supplemental Session

• $2 million to seed the ‘Housing Acquisition Fund’ to preserve the homes of thousands of vulnerable Oregonians.
• $4 million for the Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit.

2009:     Regular Session

• Housing Opportunity Bill creates a dedicated revenue source for affordable housing.
• Funding for Emergency Housing Account and State Homeless Assistance Program spared the worst of the budget cuts.
• Tenants living in foreclosed properties gain some protections from hurried eviction.
• Lottery Backed Bonds support preservation of existing affordable housing ??
• Expansion of Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit ??

2009 and beyond: There’s more to do!!!

As the 2009 Legislative session draws near an end, I’ve been reflecting on our experiences and success. There have been a lot of especially rewarding moments, and a recurring theme.

When a small group of advocates formed the Housing Alliance in 2004, we had three main goals.

First, we wanted to increase ongoing resources available to meet the growing need for affordable housing.

Second, we wanted to move housing up the priority list for at least some legislators, from number eight or nine to up among the top three.

And, third, we wanted to build a cadre of housing champions in the legislature – representatives and senators who understood the needs for affordable housing in their districts and who cared enough about those needs to do some work on the issue.

Our success this session is directly attributable to having accomplished the third goal.  We’ve done such a solid job of educating legislators about the issue that it’s hard to winnow the list down to a top ten or even a top twenty champions. On Lobby Day, March 13, we delivered “Housing Champion” awards and “Housing Advocate” awards to more than forty legislators.  And believe me, they had all earned the recognition, not just by voting to support Housing Opportunity, but by going out of their way to bring another legislator along, to speak out in committee or on the floor, and to dig deeply into the details of the issue and build their own passion for making housing opportunity a reality.

The credit for these housing champions belongs to all of you. If you’ve made a visit to a legislator, shared a story, invited a representative to a project opening, written an email, had a conversation, written a letter to the editor, or done anything else to bring home the fact that housing needs exist in every corner of the state, you should feel good about the results of that effort. Even if your representative didn’t vote with us, believe me it’s made a difference. The other thing I noticed this session is that even our “opponents” are supporters. Their statements typically began with “ We all know that everyone needs a safe decent place to live” or “ I support affordable housing,”.

When even your opponents carry your message, you know you’ve gotten your point across. Yes, everyone does deserve a safe decent place to call home. And together, we’ve made that vision more of a reality.

Janet Byrd