Bill Text: DE SR9 | 2013-2014 | 147th General Assembly | Draft

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Bill Title: Supporting The National Housing Trust Fund.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2013-06-20 - Passed by Senate. Votes: Passed 15 YES 0 NO 0 NOT VOTING 6 ABSENT 0 VACANT [SR9 Detail]

Download: Delaware-2013-SR9-Draft.html

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SPONSOR:	Sen. Hall-Long
	Sen. Henry

DELAWARE STATE SENATE

147th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 9

SUPPORTING THE NATIONAL HOUSING TRUST FUND.

WHEREAS, "Stable housing is the foundation upon which people build their lives – absent a safe, decent and affordable place to live, it is next to impossible to achieve good health, positive educational outcomes, or reach one's economic potential." (U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. 2010); and

WHEREAS, there are 23,577 extremely low income renter households in Delaware whose income is $21,706 or less for a family of four; and

WHEREAS, 77% of extremely low income renter households in Delaware pay more than half of their incomes for rent; and

WHEREAS, there is a shortage of 14,096 homes that are affordable and available for extremely low income renter households in Delaware; and

WHEREAS, this shortage of homes that are affordable and available for extremely low income renter households is the cause of homelessness in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Congress established the National Housing Trust Fund in 2008 as a dedicated fund intended to provide revenue to build, preserve, rehabilitate and operate housing for people with the lowest incomes, including people who are homeless; and

WHEREAS, the National Housing Trust Fund has not received any dollars since it was created, despite the growing need for rental housing that extremely low income households can afford; and

WHEREAS, investing in the National Housing Trust Fund will create jobs in the construction trades and in property management; and

WHEREAS, the mortgage interest deduction is under consideration for change by the U.S. Congress; and

WHEREAS, over three-quarters of the benefit for the mortgage interest deduction goes to households with income in the top fifth of all taxpayers; and

WHEREAS, only slightly more than half of homeowners who pay interest on their mortgages benefit from the mortgage interest deduction; and

WHEREAS, with modest modifications to the mortgage interest tax expenditure, the number of homeowners with mortgages who get a tax break could increase with most of the expanded benefit going to homeowners with mortgages with incomes under $100,000 a year; and federal resources would be available to direct to housing assistance to needy households.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the 147^th Delaware General Assembly supports the development of funding mechanisms for the National Housing Trust Fund to build, preserve, rehabilitate and operate housing that would benefit middle class and lower income households.

SYNOPSIS

This Senate Resolution supports the National Housing Trust Fund.

Author: Senator Hall-Long