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[Page S5832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS
The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:
POM-242. A resolution adopted by the General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey expressing its opposition to and
disapproval of the United States Department of Housing and
Urban Development's proposed rulemaking revising its
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule adopted in 2015;
to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Assembly Resolution No. 112
Whereas, In 2015, the United States Department of Housing
and Urban Development (``HUD'') adopted an Affirmatively
Furthering Fair Housing (``AFFH'') rule that established a
new framework for HUD funding recipients to meet their
longstanding legal obligation under the federal Fair Housing
Act to reduce barriers to fair housing and equal opportunity;
and
Whereas, The AFFH rule was promulgated in response to the
recommendations of the United States Government
Accountability Office and affected stakeholders centered on
the need for HUD to bolster its fair housing planning
obligations by providing greater clarity and support to HUD
funding recipients and facilitating local decision-making on
fair housing priorities and goals; and
Whereas, The AFFH rule achieves these ends by providing
clearer standards for meeting fair housing obligations,
greater transparency, increased access to data concerning
fair housing conditions and access to opportunity, and new
mapping and customizable assessment tools, as well as by
encouraging collaboration between jurisdictions and community
input and participation; and
Whereas, The AFFH rule ultimately serves to help HUD
funding recipients take meaningful actions to overcome
historic patterns of segregation, promote fair housing
choice, and foster inclusive communities that are free from
discrimination; and
Whereas, On August 9, 2018, HUD issued an advance notice of
a proposed rulemaking that would undo much of the AFFH rule
for the stated reasons that the rule impeded the development
and rehabilitation of affordable housing and provided
inadequate autonomy to HUD funding recipients; and
Whereas, The AFFH rule has not been in effect long enough
to adequately assess its effect on the development and
rehabilitation of affordable housing, the rule does not in
fact dictate how communities should meet their fair housing
obligations, and the rule has produced concrete improvements
in fair housing, such as the commitment of Chester County,
Pennsylvania to reduce the number of Section 8 recipients
living in high-poverty census tracts by five percentage
points; and
Whereas, It is altogether fitting, proper, and in the
public interest, for this House to express opposition to
HUD's proposed rulemaking that would upend the AFFH rule and
exacerbate housing inequities in both this State and across
the United States; now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New
Jersey:
1. This House expresses its opposition to and disapproval
of the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development's proposed rulemaking revising its Affirmatively
Furthering Fair Housing rule adopted in 2015.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary
of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General
Assembly to the President and Vice President of the United
States, the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development, and each member of Congress elected from this
State.
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