Advocacy
State & National Advocacy Priorities
Homelessness is a direct result of unjust policies that deny people who are economically disadvantaged, disabled, or are struggling in other ways, the support structure that would allow them to provide for their basic needs. Everyone deserves to have a secure place in our society. The New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness (NMCEH) believes that it is the role of the government to correct unfair policies so that everyone has the opportunity to have a safe and decent place to live. We advocate for policy changes that promote solutions to homelessness from prevention through permanent housing.
RECENT SUCCESSES IN NEW MEXICO
Increase in State Funding for Homeless Programs: Over the past several years the NMCEH has advocated for increased state funding for New Mexico’s homeless programs. As a result of our advocacy, annual funding was increased in 2005 by over $600,000.
Creation of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund: Working with a broad coalition of other advocates, the NMCEH helped create a New Mexico Housing Trust Fund in 2005. The Trust Fund received an initial investment of $10 million, to be used to meet the housing needs of low-income New Mexicans in a variety of ways.
Enactment of the Day Laborer Act: The Coalition took the lead in 2005 in advocating for legislation to protect people who work as day laborers from unfair practices that result in them not being paid or not being paid at least minimum wage for work they perform.
New funding for supportive housing: In the 2007 session the legislature allocated $750,000 in new funding for a pilot supportive housing program for people with serious mental illness. We believe that our postcard and letter campaign, which emphasized the need for housing and services for people experiencing homelessness, helped build support for this exciting initiative.
Creation of a Housing First Taskforce: In the 2008 session the Senate passed a memorial creating a Housing First Taskforce. The Taskforce is charged with developing a plan on how we can link homeless individuals and families to housing as quickly as possible.
$15,000 for affordable housing study: In partnership with the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry, we were able to secure $15,000 for a statewide affordable housing report during the 2008 Legislative Session. The study will consolidate already existing information on affordable housing needs and gaps in NM and will show where an investment of state dollars could have the most impact.
Successfully opposed legislation prohibiting local real estate transfer tax: By collaborating closely with our allies, the NMCEH successfully helped oppose a bill during the 2008 session that would have prohibited municipalities from enacting a real estate transfer tax. The NMCEH opposed the bill because a transfer tax is a proven tool for generating revenue for affordable housing.
CURRENT NEW MEXICO ADVOCACY PRIORITIES
Click here to see the NMCEH 2008-2009 state advocacy agenda.
CURRENT NATIONAL ADVOCACY PRIORITIES
Creation of a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Congress is very close to creating a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which is a dedicated fund to provide local communities with funds to build, preserve, and rehabilitate housing for people with the lowest incomes. This is important because policymakers often overlook the need for rental housing for the low-wage working families, senior citizens and people with disabilities who have very low-incomes. Please clink on this link to learn more about the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund campaign and to get the latest updates on what is happening in Congress. http://www.nlihc.org/template/page.cfm?id=40
Reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento Program
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act was the first -- and remains the only -- major federal legislative response to homelessness. Today, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program includes the Continuum of Care program and Emergency Shelter Grant program. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program has been up for reauthorization for several years but has not yet been reauthorized. However, it appears Congress is likely to reauthorize the program this year.
Currently, there are two bills to reauthorize the McKinney-Vento programs. The Senate bill is entitled the Community Partnership to End Homelessness (CPEH) Act and the House of Representatives bill is entitled the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. For more information about CPEH visit the National Alliance to End Homelessness website at www.naeh.org. For more information about the HEARTH Act visit the National Policy & Advocacy Council on Homelessness at www.npach.org.
The NMCEH has endorsed the HEARTH Act. The NMCEH supports the HEARTH Act because it expands the definition of homelessness to include people living doubled-up and in motels and to include people leaving public institutions who have no place to live. The NMCEH also supports the HEARTH Act because it gives local communities more control over how to spend their Continuum of Care funds based on local needs and priorities.
Adequate federal funding for homelessness and affordable housing programs
As always, the NMCEH continues to advocate for adequate federal spending for both homelessness and affordable housing programs. The NMCEH is working with the National Alliance to End Homelessness (www.naeh.org) to advocate for $2 billion in McKinney-Vento funding for FY 2009. We are also working with the National Low Income Housing Coalition to build support for adequate funding for federal affordable housing programs, including the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) and Public Housing.
To learn more about any of these legislative priorities or to learn more about how you can support and advocate for solutions to homelessness, please contact:
Lisa LaBrecque
Policy & Advocacy Director
(505) 217-9570
Lisa-L@nmceh.org