SENATE BILL: Homestead Act of 2020 (Voting on Motion to Table)

[Devout Centrist]

Why are Sections 2, 3, and 5 in this bill? They are completely unrelated to Section 4 and the title of this bill, so they should be in a different one.

This bill originally had a different, more incendiary title, but that was dropped in the interests of a more civilized debate.

This bill’s main purpose is to provide more affordable housing for working class Atlasians, especially those living in cities and small towns gripped by high rental prices. This bill would allow the HUD to contract out new housing construction to firms with a track record of cost efficacy and customer satisfaction. It would also allow the agency to purchase apartment complexes at cost and contract their administration to nonprofits in the local community. This will put downward pressure on the price of rent as more units become available at a lower price point.

Apartment ownership is also included in this bill; tenants who pay rent on time and continuously occupy an apartment without issue are given the option to own their unit after a set amount of time. Preference is given to married tenants and tenants with children.

The budget for this bill, about $150 billion, would be a $100 billion increase on the current HUD budget, in order to accommodate new housing construction and acquisitions.

[Devout Centrist]

I should get an apology from the Labor party for their treatment of me last year, if you guys are giving me reparations tbh. I also want one directly from Adam.

I can’t speak for your personal concerns, but you can own your apartment after five years if this bill passes. If you get a Mrs. Deadprez, it’s only three years!

[Devout Centrist]

With respect, Senator Yankee, there is nothing particularly arbitrary or radical about this bill. I created this legislation because I believe that a big obstacle to social mobility is that the urban and rural working class is pushed into the rental market. As a result, the working class incur costs that the middle class and upper class can easily avoid. This is not limited to any ethnic or racial group, it is a universal issue for the working class. Renters are much more likely to live in poverty compared to homeowners and their biggest expense is usually rent.

Additionally, renter households are poorer compared to homeowner households. For most Atlasians, a home is their greatest asset. It is crucial to building generational wealth and sustaining prosperity. Families that rent, on the other hand, do not have access to this powerful resource. It is much harder for them to build equity and they often go into debt for their entire lives. This cycle perpetuates poverty and effectively creates an urban underclass.

If you want more local control or increased oversight, I am happy to work with you. I am even willing to reduce the proposed funding or increase the time or income requirements to own. But I cannot endorse half measures that have created great wealth for the few, while trapping a great underclass in inescapable poverty.

There is one more thing that I want to address and that is there is a history of promoting housing and home ownership among the lower economic rungs and among minorities, without doing enough to ensure that people have the incomes to support it

Certainly, but those measures failed because the Federal Government encouraged private lenders to extend credit to families which lacked the means or financial knowledge to properly pay those loans. This bill has no such provision; you own what you own, no mortgage or loan required. The only new cost incurred by the new owner is the local property tax

[Devout Centrist]

Amendment is friendly

[Devout Centrist]

This is the current bill:

Homestead Act of 2020

To Right the Wrongs of the Past

SECTION 1.

1. This Act may be cited as the “Homestead Act of 2020”.

SECTION 2: Modern Homesteading

1. Beginning on October 1st, 2020, The Department of Housing and Urban Development shall be appropriated no less than $150,000,000,000 for FY 2021.

2. Effectively immediately, the Department of Housing and Urban Development shall establish a special division on public housing construction.

3. This division shall be officially designated as the ‘New Apartment Construction Division’.

4. The Department shall dedicate no less than $50,000,000,000 to land purchases and apartment construction grants in metropolitan and micropolitan areas where the median rent is found to exceed 120% of the HUD determined Area Median Income.
   a. Land purchases and construction grants shall be distributed to private and nonprofit organizations on the basis of a comprehensive cost-effective analysis conducted by the New Apartment Construction Division.

5. Effective immediately, the Department of Housing and Urban Development shall establish a special division on new apartment acquisition.

6. This division shall be officially designated as the ‘Low Income Housing Acquisition Division’.

7. The Low Income Housing Acquisition Division shall take appropriate steps to purchase or otherwise acquire apartment complexes that are listed on the market.

8. The Low Income Housing Acquisition Division is instructed to form contractual partnerships with local nonprofit organizations in order to administer newly acquired apartment complexes.
   a. ‘Local’ is defined as a nonprofit organization within the official census boundaries of its respective metropolitan or micropolitan area.

9. Grants shall be awarded to nonprofit organizations for the purpose of administering newly acquired apartment complexes.
a. ‘Administering’ is defined as-
   i. Maintaining existing facilities and existing apartment units
   ii. Maintaining a front office and a reception area
   iii. Contracting maintenance, repairs, and pest control to private firms
   iv. Rent reduction to qualifying tenants
   v. Utility payments on behalf of tenants
   vi. Maintenance of existing amenities or the construction of new amenities as approved on a case by case basis by the Low Income Housing Acquisition Division.

10. Tenants living in an apartment complex administered by a nonprofit organization under the Low Income Housing Acquisition Division’s jurisdiction shall qualify to own their apartment unit, as defined in their respective lease agreement, under the following conditions:
   a. Tenants continuously occupy the apartment unit and pay rent on time for not less than 5 years or 60 months.
   b. Tenant, and their spouse or domestic partner, continuously occupy their apartment unit  and pay rent on time for not less than two years or 24 months.
c. Tenant, and their spouse or domestic partner, and their dependents, continuously occupy their apartment unit and pay rent on time for not less than one year or 12 months.
      i . ‘Spouse’ shall be defined as any person legally married to the existing tenant.
      ii. ‘Domestic partner’ shall be defined as any person who has entered into a civil or domestic partnership with the existing tenant.
iii. ‘Dependents’ shall be defined as any person recognized as a dependent by the Internal Revenue Service for Taxation Purposes.
d. Tenants must maintain residency with their respective spouse, domestic partner, or dependent(s) for the duration of the lease in order to qualify for unit ownership.

11. Monthly rent at apartment complexes administered under the Low Income Housing Acquisition Division shall be capped at 100% of the HUD determined Area Median Income.

12. Nonprofit organizations shall be awarded additional grants based on the following criteria:
   a. Monthly rent does not exceed 70% of the HUD determined Area Median Income.
      i. Grants for this category shall cover 25% of total costs incurred by the complex administrator, as determined by the average total cost incurred over the past two fiscal years.
   b. Monthly rent does not exceed 60% of the HUD determined Area Median Income.
      i. Grants for this category shall cover 40% of total costs incurred by the complex administrator, as determined by the average total cost incurred over the past two fiscal years.
   c. Monthly rent does not exceed 50% of the HUD determined Area Median Income.
      i. Grants for this category shall cover 60% of total costs incurred by the complex administrator, as determined by the average total cost incurred over the past two fiscal years.
   d. Monthly rent does not exceed 40% of the HUD determined Area Median Income.
      i. Grants for this category shall cover 75% of total costs incurred by the complex administrator, as determined by the average total cost incurred over the past two fiscal years.
   e. Monthly rent does not exceed 30% of the HUD determined Area Median Income.
   i. Grants for this category shall cover 100% of total costs incurred by the complex administrator, as determined by the average total cost incurred over the past two fiscal years.

13. Apartment complexes administered by a nonprofit organization under the Low Income Housing Acquisition Division shall be subject to annual inspection and annual contract renewal.
a. Failure to provide adequate maintenance, staffing, or customer service to tenants may result in termination of contractual administration. 
b. HUD inspectors shall determine appropriate criteria for the above categories.
   
SECTION 3. Implementation

1. This Act shall go into effect on October 1st, 2020.

[Devout Centrist]

By how much would this increase the expenses of the Housing and Urban Development department?

Looking at our last budget the department seems to not exist at all?

https://talkelections.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Federal_Budget_FY_2020

I believe the equivalent in Atlasia is housing assistance provided to low income families:

Aid to Low-Income Families ($366.50 Billion)

$40.53 Billion.... Unemployment             
$39.98 Billion.... Housing assistance              
$99.44 Billion.... Food and Nutrition Assistance (Food Stamps + WIC)       
$169.01 Billion... Other aid to low-income families             
$17.54 Billion.... Social Services           

So this bill would increase funding by $110 billion.

[Devout Centrist]

Amendment is friendly

[Devout Centrist]

Motion to table

[Devout Centrist]

Aye