NIB Zoom Town Hall, March 31, 2022 "Affordable Housing Crisis: National Infrastructure Bank’s Role"
Channel: Coalition for a National Infrastructure Bank
Date: 2022-04-02

On March 31, 2022, Washington State Senator Robert Hasegawa, Economist Alphecca Muttardy, and Ohio Representative Catherine Ingram were joined by elected officials from across the country to address a critical concern of our time, "Affordable Housing Crisis: National Infrastructure Bank’s Role "
 
Housing stock in the country continues to plummet while the cost of affordable housing, to buy or rent, is skyrocketing.  

• 70% of American households have been priced out of buying a house 
• Rise in mortgage interest rates is making the problem worse.
• Half of all renters in the nation are cost-burdened 
• Ten million Americans spend 50% of their annual income on rent.  
• 570,000 people experience homelessness every day.  

The country needs over seven million new units of affordable housing. The National Infrastructure Bank, as outlined in HR 3339 in Congress, can deploy at least $700 billion to help address this crisis. There is no other legislation in Congress with the money to begin to tackle this enormous task. 

Speakers:
• Sen. Robert Hasegawa, Washington Senate, Chairman, Democratic Caucus Majority , Seattle WA
• Rep. Catherine Ingram, Ohio House, Higher Education Committee Ranking Democrat, Cincinnati OH
• Asm. Robert Karabinchak, New Jersey Assembly, Chairman, Special Committee on Infrastructure and Natural Resources, Edison, NJ
• Sen. Bruce Ennis; Delaware Senate, Chairman, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committees, Smyrna,  DE
• Alderman Michael Rodriguez, Chicago City Council Committee on Housing, Chicago, IL
• Alphecca Muttardy, Macroeconomist, former Senior Economist, International Monetary Fund, Fairfax, VA
• Moderator, Julie Olsen, MBA, Chair Alaska Democratic Party Progressive Caucus, Anchorage, AK