[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 165 (Wednesday, September 23, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S5832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-242. A resolution adopted by the General Assembly of 
     the State of New Jersey expressing its opposition to and 
     disapproval of the United States Department of Housing and 
     Urban Development's proposed rulemaking revising its 
     Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule adopted in 2015; 
     to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

                      Assembly Resolution No. 112

       Whereas, In 2015, the United States Department of Housing 
     and Urban Development (``HUD'') adopted an Affirmatively 
     Furthering Fair Housing (``AFFH'') rule that established a 
     new framework for HUD funding recipients to meet their 
     longstanding legal obligation under the federal Fair Housing 
     Act to reduce barriers to fair housing and equal opportunity; 
     and
       Whereas, The AFFH rule was promulgated in response to the 
     recommendations of the United States Government 
     Accountability Office and affected stakeholders centered on 
     the need for HUD to bolster its fair housing planning 
     obligations by providing greater clarity and support to HUD 
     funding recipients and facilitating local decision-making on 
     fair housing priorities and goals; and
       Whereas, The AFFH rule achieves these ends by providing 
     clearer standards for meeting fair housing obligations, 
     greater transparency, increased access to data concerning 
     fair housing conditions and access to opportunity, and new 
     mapping and customizable assessment tools, as well as by 
     encouraging collaboration between jurisdictions and community 
     input and participation; and
       Whereas, The AFFH rule ultimately serves to help HUD 
     funding recipients take meaningful actions to overcome 
     historic patterns of segregation, promote fair housing 
     choice, and foster inclusive communities that are free from 
     discrimination; and
       Whereas, On August 9, 2018, HUD issued an advance notice of 
     a proposed rulemaking that would undo much of the AFFH rule 
     for the stated reasons that the rule impeded the development 
     and rehabilitation of affordable housing and provided 
     inadequate autonomy to HUD funding recipients; and
       Whereas, The AFFH rule has not been in effect long enough 
     to adequately assess its effect on the development and 
     rehabilitation of affordable housing, the rule does not in 
     fact dictate how communities should meet their fair housing 
     obligations, and the rule has produced concrete improvements 
     in fair housing, such as the commitment of Chester County, 
     Pennsylvania to reduce the number of Section 8 recipients 
     living in high-poverty census tracts by five percentage 
     points; and
       Whereas, It is altogether fitting, proper, and in the 
     public interest, for this House to express opposition to 
     HUD's proposed rulemaking that would upend the AFFH rule and 
     exacerbate housing inequities in both this State and across 
     the United States; now, therefore,
       Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New 
     Jersey:
       1. This House expresses its opposition to and disapproval 
     of the United States Department of Housing and Urban 
     Development's proposed rulemaking revising its Affirmatively 
     Furthering Fair Housing rule adopted in 2015.
       2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary 
     of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General 
     Assembly to the President and Vice President of the United 
     States, the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban 
     Development, and each member of Congress elected from this 
     State.

                          ____________________