RMAPI Housing Policy Educational Sessions
As RMAPI focuses more on housing, we are organizing a series of educational sessions for the RMAPI collective so we can learn more policies related to our housing goals. Sessions will include presentations about the policies, as well as time for discussion/Q&A. Sessions will be recorded and available to RMAPI Collective members after the fact in case you can’t join us in real time. Please use the links below to register for the session(s) you are interested in!
Friday, January 6th at 12 p.m.
Housing Justice for All (Housing Access Voucher Program, Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, Good Cause Eviction)
Zoom Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqc-2pqDsuE9HnyK7kZwbOFV3dir3RuRmz
Summary: Housing Justice for All is a statewide advocacy initiative/platform. There are three separate pieces of legislation that we will learn about in this session. RMAPI is currently supporting two of these policies: The Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) would create a state-run housing voucher to be administered by Public Housing Authorities, similar to the Section 8 voucher; this legislation would support RMAPI’s goal of making housing more affordable. The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) would support RMAPI’s goal of supporting a variety of models of and pathways to homeownership. The third policy, Good Cause Eviction, we are still learning about, and seeking to understand it better and how it connects to our goals of reducing involuntary displacement/transiency and supporting tenants.
Monday, January 9th at 4 p.m.
RED Campaign (Rochester for Energy Democracy)
Zoom Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYsc-6tpz0tHNe-3mSep_8Px4Ii2wgpYGdn
Summary: The RED Campaign is an effort to create a public utility in Rochester/Monroe County. Rising utility costs are contributing to the overall increasing cost of housing in our community. The first step would be a study completed by the City of Rochester or Monroe County. This effort might connect to our focus on making housing more affordable, so we are actively learning more about it.
Coming soon
Public Assistance Improvements – Increasing the Public Assistance Grant and Raising the Shelter Allowance to Fair Market Rent Levels
Registration link coming soon
Summary: There are two complimentary policies being proposed by advocates across the state, that would help make housing more available, affordable, and higher quality for individuals and families who receive public assistance support through DHS. The first policy would increase the non-shelter part of the Cash Assistance grant, which has not been increased in 10 years. The second policy would raise the Shelter Allowance to Fair Market Rent Levels, so that a DHS shelter allowance could more realistically pay for the actual cost of housing.