Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders, Ramirez Reintroduce the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reintroduced the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act, landmark housing legislation which would rebuild the United States' public housing stock, address the longstanding capital backlog, and create thousands of union jobs. This bill provides a much-needed infusion of federal funding to update every public housing unit through weatherization, electrification, and modernization so that it may serve as a model of efficiency, sustainability, and resiliency for the rest of the nation.

This Congress, the bill was newly endorsed by three building trades unions: the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (IUBAC), the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT).

"From record-breaking heat waves to extreme flooding displacing public housing residents, Americans are feeling the parallel impacts of the housing and climate crisis. Now more than ever, it is integral that Congress put forward bold solutions that ensure our nation's housing stock is both affordable and resilient," said Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "I am proud to reintroduce the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act alongside Representative Delia Ramirez and Senator Bernie Sanders to deliver a generational rebuild of our nation's public housing stock, reduce emissions, and create hundreds of thousands of union jobs, including job opportunities for public housing residents. This Congress, we received our first endorsements from three building trades unions. We are proud to fight for a bold future for public housing alongside the people who will build it."

"Safe, sustainable, resilient, affordable housing is a HUMAN RIGHT, plain and simple. The policies we advance in Congress must help us realize that truth for EVERYONE. As our nation reckons with both a worsening housing crisis and urgent climate crisis, we must fight for and realize bold policy action and investment," said Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez. "As the current administration attacks affordable housing funding, I am proud to stand with Representative Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Sanders to reintroduce legislation that will secure the future of our public housing, prioritize climate and racial justice, and boost our economy and labor force. The Green New Deal for Public Housing is a bold solution to our national housing problem"

"In the richest country in the history of the world, it is unacceptable that our nation's public housing is in a state of chronic disrepair. It is unacceptable that hundreds of millions of Americans are facing the disastrous impacts of climate change while the fossil fuel industry makes huge profits. And it is unacceptable that far too many Americans are working multiple jobs just to keep a roof over their head," Sanders said. "What the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act does is say that yes, we can create decent and affordable public housing for more than 1.5 million Americans that is based on energy efficiency and sustainable sources of power. And that when we do that, we can also create hundreds of thousands of good-paying, union jobs. That is a win-win-win situation."

The bill would create seven grant programs under one application process to modernize our public housing stock through:

• Deep energy retrofits to increase energy savings in nearly a million public housing units;
• Workforce development programs, prioritizing good-paying job opportunities for residents;
• Energy efficiency, building electrification, and water quality upgrades;
• Community renewable energy generation, the profits of which will be controlled by Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to boost their coffers and increase self-sufficiency;
• Community resiliency and sustainability measures;
• Climate adaptation and emergency disaster response systems.

"The United States faces a serious housing crisis, one which intensifies with every passing year. Grounded in strong protections for workers, the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act tackles this crisis in part by mandating fair wages, benefits, and labor standards as a requirement for funding public housing upgrades. The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers urges Congress to act quickly to enact this much needed legislation," said Tim Driscoll, President, IUBAC.

"The Green New Deal for Public Housing is the most significant investment in preserving and improving public housing that we've seen in generations. This bill will preserve hundreds of thousands of safe, affordable homes for those who need them the most, while centering public housing residents at every stage in the process. It enables communities to retain and modernize their homes by bringing units up to code, dramatically improving energy efficiency, and unlocking on-site renewable energy infrastructure, all while removing outdated limits on the construction of new public housing. NHLP is proud to endorse Sen. Sanders, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, and Rep. Ramirez's vision for bringing public housing into the future," said Shamus Roller, Chief Executive Officer of the National Housing Law Project.

"We are living through a housing crisis decades in the making. After years of federal underfunding, public housing residents are enduring record heat in homes that need repair. It does not have to be this way," said DaMareo Cooper, Executive Director of Popular Democracy. "The Green New Deal for Public Housing repairs the homes of 1.6 million tenants and families, creates 280,000 good union jobs with residents hired first, and puts working people at the center of decisions about their own communities. That is what democracy looks like."

The legislation is cosponsored by 40 representatives, including Representatives Brendan Boyle (PA-02), André Carson (IN-07), Troy Carter (LA-02), Greg Casar (TX-35), Judy Chu (CA-28), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-9), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10), Jesus Garcia (IL-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Adelita S. Grijalva (AZ-07), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Summer Lee (PA-12), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Grace Meng (NY-06), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Jerold Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-00), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Emily Randall (WA-06), Jamie Raskin (MD-06), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Adam Smith (WA-09), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Mark Takano (CA-39), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Paul D. Tonko (NY-20), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), and Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24).

The legislation also has 6 cosponsors in the Senate, including Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Peter Welch (D-VT).

The legislation is endorsed by The Alliance for a Greater New York (ALIGN), Alliance For Housing Justice, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), California Green New Deal Coalition, Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund, Churches United for Fair Housing (CUFFH), Citizen Action of New York, Climate and Community Institute, Climate Critical, Food and Water Watch, For the Many, Georgia Advancing Communities Together, Inc., Inner City Green Team, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), Labor Network for Sustainability, Long Island Progressive Coalition, National Health Care for the Homeless Council, National Housing Law Project, National Low Income Housing Coalition, New York Progressive Action Network (NYPAN), Oil Change International, Popular Democracy in Action, Public Advocates Inc., Residents to Preserve Public Housing, Save Section 9, Sunrise Movement, The Point Community Development Corporation, UAW Region 9A, VOCAL-NY & VOCAL-US.

The full bill text is available here.

A one-pager of the bill is available here.

A section-by-section of the bill is available here.

Read The Action Lab, New York University's Urban Democracy Lab, and the Climate and Community Institute's full report on the Green New Deal for Public Housing and the Homes Act here.

###