Your Community

I want to get your thoughts on an important, but not widely-publicized, new government rule that may affect you, your family, your neighbors, your home and your community. 

As you may or may not know, last month the Obama Administration, through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a new regulation known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH). 

The final rule was subsequently published in the federal register on July 16, 2015, and would essentially withhold local funding to cities and towns unless they meet certain standards of integration based on sex, income, religion, race, and other demographics. 

What does that mean for you?

On paper, the rule appears fairly innocuous. It authorizes HUD to send local zoning boards reams of data about racial and economic disparity in their communities to help them “proactively” overcome “historic patterns of segregation...and foster inclusive communities for all.”

Communities will get feedback on their schools, transportation systems and racial and socioeconomic make-up to help them determine whether they are fully welcoming to low income families and other classes protected by the Fair Housing Act.

Once the data is compiled and analyzed, the expectation is that communities will take positive action to improve their numbers. And if they don’t? They’ll lose federal housing dollars.

In the grand scheme, losing the federal money may not be that big of a deal. However, the federal government would also have the ability to determine discrimination by simply looking at statistics. 

This would mean communities could be forced to change local zoning text to potentially incorporate more affordable housing.

As I studied this rule, it was clear this rule would have far-reaching consequences. In my opinion, it was another example of aggressive overreach by the federal government. No matter where you live in the 14th District, you likely decided to purchase your home, rent an apartment or put down roots in a particular community for a number reasons.