A Successful Capitol Hill Day 2021!

By Jennifer Thomas
Housing Research and Policy Associate, Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania
June 2021 

It was an incredible day for the Housing Alliance as we were joined by over forty-two dedicated, passionate, and inspiring housing advocates from across the Commonwealth for fifteen Congressional visits during our virtual Capitol Hill Day on April 1, 2021.  

When the day arrived, six members of Congress (Rep. Houlahan, Rep. Joyce, Rep. Kelly, Rep. Perry, Rep. Evans, and Senator Casey) were in attendance. The Congressmembers were moved by the passion, dedication, and experiences of the advocates. Senator Casey was enthusiastic during our meeting with him, which had the biggest turnout of the day with twenty housing advocates in attendance. He offered insights into the political landscape and showed an openness to our policy asks. 

For our other nine meetings, we were joined by very experienced housing staffers for Representatives Boyle, Smucker, Keller, Lamb, Meuser, Reschenthaler, Cartwright, Doyle, and Senator Toomey. The staffers expressed their eagerness to share all of the information brought forth in the meetings.  All of the Representatives, Senator, and their staff encouraged everyone to continue advocating, keep the conversation alive, and be sure to include them along the way! 

Our policy asks were aligned with the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s on supporting robust funding for housing and homelessness assistance in fiscal year 2022. Specifically: 

• $3.3 billion for HUD programming and McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants; 
• providing at least $70 billion to preserve and rehabilitate our nation’s public housing infrastructure; 
• expanding the National Housing Trust Fund to at least $40 billion to build and preserve homes that will be affordable to people with the lowest incomes; and  
• provide $185 billion to fund NeighborWorks America to promote community development. 

We also drew the Congressmembers’ attentions to legislation that was since reintroduced from the last congressional session, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act to expand the Low Income Housing Tax Credit.  Both Rep. Evans and Rep. Reschenthaler have since signed on to the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Improvement Act. 

Housing developers, housing providers, social service professionals, and individuals with lived experience shared their compelling stories to emphasize the importance and need for robust funding for housing programs. The Housing Alliance scheduled fifteen legislator meetings and also held various planning and advocacy practice sessions to ensure that everyone was prepared to tell their story and have a successful legislative visit. We helped the advocates craft a message that would focus on solutions. The aforementioned solutions are instrumental in ensuring housing stability for families and helping communities thrive across Pennsylvania. 

Capitol Hill Day is just one step in a series of advocacy efforts that are needed to ensure every person has a safe and decent home. The Housing Alliance would like to thank all of the advocates, Congressmembers, and their staff for making our 2021 Capitol Hill Day one for the books. We look forward to continuing to advocate with you. 

Thank you to the following organizations for advocating with us!

We want to advocate with you!   

Our success depends on the strong advocates, new and seasoned, throughout the Commonwealth! First, check out our 2021-2022 policy agenda. Then, join our mailing list to learn about opportunities to advocate with us throughout the year. Finally, sign-on to the NLIHC HoUSed campaign.  

Bold policies are needed now more than ever to ensure that those with the lowest incomes and the most marginalized people have a stable, safe, and affordable place to call home.