Senator Mike Lee has just introduced a bill to defund President Obama’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing regulation
"Every American should be free to choose where to live, and every community should be free to zone its neighborhoods and compete for new residents according to its distinct values. The diversity of America’s neighborhoods – from dense cities to wide-open rural communities to suburbs in between – is a treasure that we need to preserve. We don’t need a National Zoning Board. Washington should let Americans "govern local."
...Yet it would be foolish for local governments to rely on congressional efforts to defund AFFH. For now, localities wishing to avoid a de facto federal takeover need to consider turning down HUD grant money. Sen. Lee’s press release on his AFFH defunding bill rightly notes problems in HUD’s Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG). But there’s no time to wait for reform. Localities need to consider turning down HUD money right now.
A new website, Obamazone.org, provides a way for you to find out what your locality already accepts in the way of CDBG money. The site features news about opposition to AFFH and helpful videos as well. While CDBG is the largest HUD grant program by far, it’s important to keep in mind that there are several other smaller HUD grant programs, and taking even a dollar from any one of them leaves a locality vulnerable to de facto federal takeover.
Turning down HUD money is the smart play right now. If AFFH stands, however, it will not do as a long-term solution. The citizens of every locality in the country are taxed to fund HUD. Turning down the grants picks their pockets. If AFFH stands, efforts to cut funding for CDBG will have to begin. For now, however, the safest play is to turn down HUD money and press Congress to pass the Gosar and Lee bills defunding or canceling AFFH.
