To whom it may concern:

My name is Tim Dempsey, and I am writing on behalf Our Revolution Arlington in support of this Proposed Guidance Document on Housing Discrimination on the Basis of Source of Funds.

Housing is a crisis situation in the United States. Even before the pandemic, roughly 30% were “housing cost burdened,” spending 30% or more of their income on housing. In Virginia, it is estimated that 45% of all renters are housing cost burdened.

Federal, state, and local housing vouchers are an important form of support for low and moderate income earners. Vouchers reduce their housing cost burden, while helping to prevent homelessness and/or chronic relocation - all of which in turn eases other financial and psychological burdens of the voucher recipients. 

Moreover, housing vouchers provide greater mobility to low and moderate income earners. An unfortunate feature of committed affordable and public housing programs is that, for various reasons, they tend to be clumped together in a single area, which concentrates poverty. Vouchers, by contrast, give the holder the opportunity to potentially move out of areas with concentrated poverty and racial segregation and into market-rate private residential buildings in neighborhoods with better amenities. This tends to improve social outcomes for them and their children, which is good for society as a whole.

For these reasons and more, it is imperative that we make it easier for people to use housing vouchers, which this new law does. 

As to the Guidance Document itself, the document is clearly written and illustrative of the changes in the existing law and obligations of the various parties.