As someone who has donated some time and a little money to Habitat for Humanity, I'm not a fan of Sen. Madla's bill, SB1341. Here's the low-down from my Habitat e-mail:
Someone Wants To Take Away The DreamYou know it's bad when Habitat and your church are against it. That's all I'm sayin'.A piece of legislation started in the Texas House as HB 1167 by Representative Talton. The bill would repeal an owner-builder revolving loan fund that low-income housing providers use to create affordable housing. The bill also proposes MUCH less funding for single family housing in order to provide more funding for multi-family rental units, it opens the door for reduced construction standards and it reduces standards for property managers of apartment complexes. ALL BAD NEWS FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES, BUT GOOD NEWS FOR APARTMENT DEVELOPERS.
The original HB 1167 never made it out of the House. But now Talton has Senator Mandla adding 1167 issues to Mandla's SB1341. The issues are still alive....it's time to take action.
"Stand Up for Housing!", a fair housing rally, is being held THIS Wednesday, May 18th at the Texas Capitol steps from 6pm to 6:30pm. The rally will show Senator Madla that housing advocates and voters are opposed to his bill, SB 1341. Please join Austin affordable housing advocates make sure that homeownership for low-income families survives the Texas Legislature.
Note: Madla has not agreed to amend his bill (yet?)...this is all Talton's (Rep., Pasadena) doing. Direct our outrage at Talton and encourage Madla to reject the amendments (most of HB1167) to his SM1341.