Federal Housing Bill Would Silence Voter Advocacy Efforts

A U.S. House of Representatives bill, H.R. 1461, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005, would restrict the ability of nonprofit organizations to engage in voter registration or other get-out-the-vote activities.

Housing groups participating in nonpartisan voting activities 12 months before the application date and during the funding period would be ineligible for Affordable Housing Fund grants. Agencies would be prohibited from using other dollars to fund their civic engagement activities or even affiliating with an organization involved in such activities.

Affordable Housing Fund grants support the production and preservation of very low-income housing. For the next two years, funding prio rity will be given to efforts to rebuild housing in areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Advocates argued that the proposed restrictions ran afoul of existing federal and state law. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires nonprofit organizat ions receiving public dollars to provide clients with the opportunity to apply to register to vote and to assist clients on their applications.

A coalition of organizations, the National Organizations Opposed to Voter Restrictions in H.R. 1461, led by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, is opposing the restrictions.

In an October 19, 2005, letter to Speaker Dennis Hastert, the coalition called the provisions “blatantly undemocratic” and intended “for no other purpose than to reduce access to voting b y low-income people.” The coalition noted that for-profit companies, which are also eligible for the grants, were exempt from these restrictions.

For more information, contact Kate Walz, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, at 312.263.3830 ext. 232.