Neighbors for More Neighbors Goes to Washington to Endorse The Homes Act
A Q&A with Brit Anbacht, Neighbors for More Neighbors board member
Tell me about yourself - who are you and how did you become interested in housing issues?
Hi! I’m Brit Anbacht, I’m currently a board member for Neighbors for More Neighbors (N4MN) and a housing policy volunteer. I grew up moving fifteen times by the time I turned 15, and then a total of 30 by age 30. My family moved mostly because the rent was too high, and we needed a new job and a new town to be able to keep a roof over our heads. I remember living in a motel for a month between rentals, and sometimes in our car during long trips. We lived in an RV for an entire summer and half a school year; most of that without consistent water access. My personal experience with housing insecurity fuels my desire for secure homes for everyone. I started volunteering around zoning and housing advocacy in 2018 when the 2040 Comprehensive Plan was being decided in Minneapolis. I think my introduction to Neighbors for More Neighbors was at an Open Streets event, but frankly it’s been long enough I don’t really remember.
What is The Homes Act? What does it do?
The Homes Act is a bill that has been introduced by Sen. Tina Smith (MN) in the Senate and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (NY) in the House that lays out a plan for the federal government to fund home building by creating “social and public” homes. It helps people to buy a home for themselves with down payment assistance. It helps renters get the opportunity to purchase their building when it is sold. The Home Act also creates, funds, and authorizes a national housing authority that would have the ability to build 100,000 new homes every year.
It is clear that our current system – attemptsto subsidize homebuilding through a complicated tax structure – is not working. It would be simpler, and cheaper, to build homes with direct funds. These homes could have rents capped at 25% of a tenant’s income, with rent adjusted over time, so folks aren’t kicked out if they make “too much money”.
The bill also would incentivize local zoning changes to ensure that homes funded by the The Homes Act could be built in more communities.
Why did Neighbors for More Neighbors endorse The Homes Act?
We endorsed The Homes Act because we believe everyone deserves a place to live and that we need abundant homes in all our communities. The Homes Act would help us bring abundant housing to our communities so that all of our neighbors can choose a place that is secure, safe, and desirable to live in.
When we talk about social housing, we often talk about it as a national issue - the reason it’s a national issue is that Congress has the power of the purse and to decide what they want to fund. The Homes Act would make it legal to build social housing and would fund social housing.
Due to a law called the Faircloth Amendment, currently it is practically illegal to build new public homes. The Faircloth Amendment was passed by the federal government in the 1990s and capped the number of public homes to the amount which existed at the time of the amendment. Public housing authorities, like the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, can not build more homes. Currently, this means that Congress cannot fund the building of more homes on a national level without repealing this amendment first. The law also results in a de-emphasis of maintenance for socially-owned homes. The proposed Homes Act would repeal the Faircloth Amendment.
What was the press conference trip like?
My trip included: meeting staff, taking a Capitol tour, talking to other housing advocates over lunch, meeting with Sen. Smith in her office, and helping to form the back line for the press conference where the elected representatives and some housing advocates spoke about The Homes Act and what it could do for housing in America.
Although I lived in the DC area from 2013 to 2016,I’d never bothered to do a Capitol or White House tour. It’s just one of those ‘touristy’ things that you don’t usually do in your home town.
We heard you got to ride in the people movers under the Capitol! How was it?! What was it like?
It was very fun! Mostly like a very old airport tram. You could exit on either side, and it was open roof. There were also staffers that chose to just walk in the corridor next to the people mover. You only get to ride the people mover if you are on a staff guided tour because it is primarily for staff to get around. It was a highlight of my trip for sure, I love unique mass transit.
Did you get to meet AOC? What about Sen. Smith?
I did not get an opportunity to talk to AOC, but was in the backline of the press conference so got to hear AOC, Sen. Smith and Rep. Ayanna Pressley speak during the press conference. AOC organized a big turnout from New York, with maybe 50-75 people coming down for the conference. Many of them took Amtrak from NYC to DC the same day. The MN contingent was closer to 7.
One thing I really appreciated is that Senator Smith seemed to understand that housing is crucial, and that corporations currently have the ability to price gouge and fix rents. They are engaging in these algorithmic price fixing schemes. These things continue to happen because we don’t have alternative, non-market solutions - we don’t have a floor for housing that says that if you are charging people more than 25% of their income, they have somewhere else to go.
What can a N4MN volunteer do to help ensure passage of the Homes Act?
So, I think what folks can do is write to thank Sen. Smith for sponsoring the bill. This helps to show that housing matters, and that we believe Federal movement on housing is possible. You can also talk to people locally and encourage your friends to support more social homes. You can call your local congressional office and encourage your elected official to bring The Homes Act to a vote.
It’s also helpful to just talk to neighbors and friends about how we need homes of all kinds, including social homes, cooperatives and other kinds of ownership models. This can also happen at the local level.
Here in Minnesota we need to change land use laws so that we can build more homes within our cities. Currently about 75% of Hennepin County - and most residential areas in the state - are dedicated to one lot, one home. We need to lift apartment bans across MN. And maybe fix condo laws so more multi-family homeownership is possible.
Local and statewide efforts to create abundant homes are continuing and you can help us by volunteering with N4MN’s State Policy Taskforce as we head into the 2025 legislative session in St. Paul. Email neighborsformoreneighbors@gmail.com with “Volunteer for State Policy Taskforce” in the subject line if you’d like to get started.
What will happen now?
This bill was at the introduction phase in October 2024. This means that it could have been selected as a part of the upcoming congressional agenda, which is why there was a press conference to introduce the bill. Press conferences are a way to show popular support and place pressure on other lawmakers to help make that issue a priority.
Federal movement on housing, and especially social housing, has been at a standstill since the 1990s. Given the results of the election, it is unlikely that this bill will be introduced in the next four years or given a chance at a vote on the floor. The national GOP blames excess population, especially immigration, for current high housing costs.
Neighbors for More Neighbors knows, however, that one of the contributing causes of the housing crisis is that we simply have built less homes than the number needed nationally since the housing market crashed in 2008. We are playing musical chairs with homes –and there aren't enough chairs for everyone. We don’t need to remove neighbors from our communities, we need to build abundant homes.