WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) called on Senate Appropriations Committee leaders to provide robust funding for Tribal housing programs as part of the upcoming government funding bill. Congress has consistently underfunded critical programs that support affordable housing development, operation, and maintenance for Tribal communities.
“While Nevada and the nation as a whole face a severe housing shortage and affordability crisis, Tribal communities have some of the most urgent housing needs,” wrote Senator Rosen. “Research shows that housing conditions in Native American households are often significantly worse than in non-Native households, with many facing substandard conditions and inadequate plumbing, heating, and electrical infrastructure. Further, overcrowding, high poverty rates, challenges to development, and barriers to affordable mortgage financing leave many Native Americans without access to a safe, quality, and affordable place to call home.”
“Nevada is proudly home to 28 Tribes, bands, councils, and colonies that are important contributors to Nevada’s cultural fabric, and I am committed to protecting, empowering, and strengthening these communities,” Senator Rosen’s letter continued. “That’s why it is critical the Subcommittee finally provide substantially increased funding for critical housing programs that will boost affordable housing development and improve housing security in Nevada’s Tribal communities.”
The full letter can be found here.
Senator Rosen has been fighting to lower housing costs for all Nevadans. She recently introduced the Housing Oversight and Mitigating Exploitation (HOME) Act to crack down on housing price gouging by corporate investors who are driving up home prices by buying up housing stock. Last year, she led her colleagues in a letter to Senate appropriators requesting that they fund the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Veterans Affairs and Supportive Housing program. Senator Rosen also helped secure nearly $15 million in funding to address homelessness and housing insecurity in southern Nevada and more than $48 million to increase access to affordable housing in the state. Senator Rosen also helped pass legislation to provide nearly $165 million in funding to Nevada for emergency rental assistance, as well as the funding for Nevada’s $500 million Home Means Nevada Initiative.
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