Building Changes applauds Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell for their vocal support of S. 896, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which the Senate unanimously passed yesterday. The approved legislation included two amendments that will greatly benefit low-income and homeless Washingtonians.

The first put forth by Senator Kerry (D-MA) will require 90 days' notice prior to eviction for renters living in properties that have been foreclosed upon. As I noted in my blog of March 23rd, renters are inadvertently punished by foreclosures as they are frequently forced into eviction upon notification of the mortgagers default even though they dutifully have paid their rent on time and otherwise lived up to the terms of their lease. A similar bill passed the Washington State legislature in this session, SB 5810.

Senators Reed (D-RI) and Bond (R-MO) submitted another amendment, the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act, which will reauthorize McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance programs. The HEARTH Act, when signed into law, will substantially improve Washington communities' ability to prevent and end homelessness. The legislation:

• Allows up to 20 percent of funds to be used to prevent homelessness or rapidly re-house people who become homeless through the new "Emergency Solutions Grants" (formerly Emergency Shelter Grants);
• Consolidates the Supportive Housing Program, Shelter Plus Care, and the Moderate Rehabilitation/Single Room Occupancy Program into a single Continuum of Care program;
• Increases the emphasis on performance by measuring applicants' progress at reducing homelessness;
• Requires that HUD provide incentives for proven solutions, including rapid re- housing programs for homeless families and permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless individuals and families;
• Designates 30 percent of total funds for new permanent housing for families and individuals with a disability;
• Simplifies the requirement for matching funds; Modestly expands the definition of homelessness; Allows grantees to use up to an additional 10 percent of competitive funds to serve families defined as homeless under the Department of Education (but not HUD);
• Creates the Rural Housing Stability Assistance Program, which would grant rural communities greater flexibility in utilizing Homeless Assistance Grants and allow them to use more funding for capacity building; and
• Authorizes $2.2 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2010, and such sums as necessary for FY2011.

The House has already passed H.R. 1106, its version of S.896--without the HEARTH Act attached--so the bill will proceed to the conference stage in the coming weeks, where the conference committee will decide whether or not to include the HEARTH Act in the final compromised version of the bill. Then, the full House and Senate must approve the final version of S.896 and send it to the President for his signature before it becomes law. We believe that the history of strong leadership within the House and the Administration will enable full Congressional passage and bill signing in the next few weeks.