WHEREAS, Safe, decent and affordable housing is the basic right of all Americans; and
WHEREAS, Affordable housing is at the heart of strong communities and stable neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, The lack of affordable housing has caused homelessness, economic hardship, and other adverse effects for an untold number of men, women and children in Philadelphia and throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, The average price of a home in Pennsylvania increased 19% between 2013 and 2015; and
WHEREAS, More than 16,000 Pennsylvanians are homeless; and
WHEREAS, 35% of homeowners in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania earn less than $20,000.00 per year and 46% of families who rent pay more than 30% of their income for housing and in Philadelphia 45% of low income households pay more than 30% oftheir income for housing; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania's Public Housing Authorities operate over 62,000 units of public housing, administer nearly 84,000 housing choice vouchers, and own or manage an additional 9,400 units of affordable housing in Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, there is a shortage of 277,000 homes that are affordable and available to people with extremely low incomes; and
WHEREAS, The production of new housing and the preservation and rehabilitation of existing housing that is affordable for low and moderate income individuals and families must be a priority for the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, The expansion of the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Program will increase resources throughout the Commonwealth for the creation and preservation of affordable housing; and
WHEREAS, Senate Bill 566 and House Bill 792 seek to expand PHARE using future growth in revenue from the Realty Transfer Tax; and
WHEREAS, The Council of the City of Philadelphia is committed to addressing the affordable housing crisis; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA,
That the Council calls upon the Pennsylvania General Assembly to pass SB 566 or HB 792 and for the Governor to sign the final bill.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Honorable Tom Wolf, Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Senate Appropriation Committee Chairs, Senator Patrick Browne and Senator Vincent Hughes and House Appropriation Committee Chairs, Representative William Adolph and Representative Joseph Markosek and to each member of the Philadelphia House and Senate delegation.
End