Honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy Today by Advocating for Housing Justice
Monday, January 18, 2021

 

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a time when Americans reflect on Dr. King’s legacy and the racism that still inflicts our society. He was a multi-faceted preacher and activist that saw the interconnectedness of the deepest issues that affect our society. In the last years of his life, Dr. King fought for economic justice with a focus on housing. The Poor People’s Campaign, which included the 1968 March on Washington, sought economic justice for all people by shining a light on poverty through the lens of income and housing. This effort was organized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As you read the rest of this update we hope that MLK’s legacy will inspire you to speak up, teach, and enlighten others on why justice for housing and evictions is so critical to address. Please take some action on housing-related issues today, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy!

 

Housing and Eviction Resources 

Prosperity Indiana Action Center
Urban Institute map tool where to prioritize rent assistance
Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition Website
Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition 2021 policy priorities
Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition Guide for a book reading of Evicted

Housing and Eviction Policy Areas:

Senate Enrolled Act 148 makes it harder to deal with Indiana’s affordable housing and evictions crisis. It takes away individual cities and towns’ ability to govern themselves and how they deal with their housing and eviction issues. The bill passed in the last hours of the legislative session in 2020 and then was vetoed by the governor, partially due to its effects on risking Hoosiers and their health during COVID-19. Now legislators are looking to overturn Governor Holcomb’s veto. This comes at a turbulent time when Indiana is in the grip of a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic that would be exacerbated by a surge in evictions and homelessness. To learn more about SEA 148, please click here. The urgency is that the effort to override the Governor’s veto could come with little to no notice

The Greater Indianapolis Multifaith Alliance (GIMA) with the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition launched an easy to use “Click to Call” form. This will allow anyone in Indiana to contact their legislators with the simple click of a button! Once you submit your information, it will take you to the next page with a script and some talking points. The system will then automatically call you on your phone and connect you to forward you to your State Senator and State Representative. List of which Senators voted for and against SB 148 back in March!

PLEASE SHARE WIDELY!
With this direct link:  bit.ly/GIMA-Take-Action-SEA148.

 

Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana 2021 Bills List
These are bills posted so far that are directly fair housing-related or may have a broader housing impact. Some of these bills we are tracking to learn more as to the intent of the legislation to determine a position on it.

  • SEA 148 Veto Override: FHCCI had a great IBJ Editorial speaking against a veto override. In addition, Indiana Week in Review discussed a possible override with all panelists being against it (skip to 15:26 to hear this discussion about the potential SEA 148 landlord bill override). We continue to try to educate legislators about the harms of a veto override. Unfortunately, this week, HB 1541 was introduced by Rep. Manning (Logansport area) which would do about the same thing as a SEA 148 veto override.
  • SB 99 (Sandlin): Allows cities to designate geographic areas in county for property tax relief. Specifically cited property tax relief for ‘gentrification’ as covered underbill. FHCCI supports this bill.
  • Bills introduced that FHCCI supports have not received hearings:
    HB 1024 (property tax relief), HB 1131 (bias crimes), HB 1209 (bias crimes)
    HB 1219 (landlord/tenant and land contracts)
    HB 1492 (notice of sales of mobile home parks)
    HB 1530 (housing task force and eviction tracking)
    SB 119 (sexual orientation, gender identity civil rights protections)
    SB 270 (various changes to landlord/tenant law)

“Third House Meeting” Dates
Indiana Third House Meetings provide a forum for community members to discuss pending legislation in the Indiana General Assembly with their elected representatives. This is a great way for you to advocate directly with your elected officials!
Check out the dates here.

FOR COMMUNITY PARTNERS: JCRC’s SUGGESTED ACTION ALERT LANGUAGE

Subject: ACTION ALERT: Urge State Legislators Not to Override Gov. Holcomb’s Veto of the Eviction Bill SEA 148 during this COVID-19 Winter!

INSERT YOUR ORG NAME is joining our partners at the Greater Indianapolis Multifaith Alliance and the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition to urge the Indiana General Assembly not to override Governor Holcomb’s veto of 2020’s eviction bill, SEA 148. An override of the veto will result in increased expedited evictions, a rise in homelessness, and a domino effect of negative impacts on Hoosiers’ public health and local and statewide economic recovery efforts.

We are asking our community members and partners to call their state legislators and urge them not to override Gov. Holcomb’s veto of Eviction Bill SEA 148 during this COVID-19 winter. It’s important to call and relay why preventing evictions is important to you and how they would damage your community Given the critical importance of rental housing to a third of Hoosiers, especially during a continuing public health crisis, we can’t afford to increase evictions and the resulting homelessness in Indiana.

LINK TO CLICK TO CALL: bit.ly/GIMA-Take-Action-SEA14

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