Rep. Lee, Sykes, Evans, and Senator Fetterman Introduce the Keep Affordable Housing in Forgotten Communities Act

Contact:
Vaibhav Vijay, Vaibhav.Vijay@mail.house.gov
Kyla Gill, Kyla.Gill@mail.house.gov

Rep. Lee, Sykes, Evans, and Senator Fetterman Introduce the Keep Affordable Housing in Forgotten Communities Act

Legislation to Preserve Affordable Housing and Prevent Displacement in Revitalizing Communities

Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) introduced the Keep Affordable Housing in Forgotten Communities Act, landmark legislation designed to safeguard affordable housing in neighborhoods undergoing redevelopment. Co-led by Representatives Emilia Sykes (D-OH) and Dwight Evans (D-PA), this bill builds on the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program (RCP) to ensure that critical revitalization efforts don’t result in the displacement of long-term residents.

“For far too long, infrastructure projects and revitalization efforts have failed to prioritize affordable housing, pushing out the very people who stuck through the hardest times,” said Rep. Summer Lee. “This legislation puts the needs of working-class families first and ensures that revitalization efforts aren’t at the expense of the residents who have called these communities home for decades. It’s about justice, it’s about dignity, and it’s about keeping housing affordable for those who need it most.”

“Revitalizing our communities can’t come at the cost of pushing out the people who’ve built their lives there. The Keep Affordable Housing in Forgotten Communities Act makes sure that as we invest in rebuilding and infrastructure, we don’t leave behind the families that have been holding it all together,” said Senator John Fetterman (D-PA). “This is about fairness—making sure that affordable housing stays affordable, and that working-class people aren’t priced out of the neighborhoods they’ve called home for generations. I’m proud to stand with Reps. Lee, Sykes, and Evans in this critical fight.” 

“Communities are made strong by the people who live in them. That’s why I am working to increase housing affordability and to protect longtime residents from being displaced from their neighborhoods as they undergo revitalization,” said Rep. Emilia Sykes (OH-13). “I am proud to introduce this bill with my colleagues, Reps. Lee and Evans, to ensure that working families can afford to live in the communities they’ve called home for generations.” 

Cosponsors: Representatives Barbara Lee (CA), Delia Ramirez (IL), and Cori Bush (MO).

Endorsements: Grounded Solutions Network, National NeighborWorks Association, the National Housing Law Project, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Housing Trust, the Center for Community Progress, and American Planning Association PA. It is also endorsed by many of Pennsylvania’s CLTs – the Women’s Community Revitalization Project (Philadelphia), City of Bridges Community Land Trust (Pittsburgh), Mosaic Community Land Trust (Pottstown), Lehigh Valley Community Land Trust, State College Community Land Trust, and Centre County Community Land Trust.

“The Keep Affordable Housing in Forgotten Communities Act is a positive step toward fostering more CLT-driven development. CLTs are the only housing movement that creates permanently affordable homeownership committed to sharing housing opportunities exclusively to low-to-middle-income buyers for future generations while empowering households to grow generational wealth, establish roots, and foster community ties without risk of displacement” said Rebecca Aguilar-Francis, Executive Director of the City of Bridges Community Land Trust. “We’re excited to see the support that this bill could lend to CLTs and other affordable housing methods working to preserve our changing neighborhoods across Allegheny County.”

“As a co-lead sponsor of the Reconnecting Communities program in the Biden-Harris administration’s Infrastructure and Jobs Act, I see this affordable-housing bill as a useful complement to that law. It would build on that effort to protect vulnerable communities and help their residents to benefit from redevelopment” said Rep. Dwight Evans (PA-03).

As communities across the country work to revitalize towns and cities, residents who have lived in these neighborhoods for generations are often priced out by rising rents and private equity buyouts. The Keep Affordable Housing in Forgotten Communities Act addresses this issue by promoting the use of Community Land Trusts (CLTs) and other affordable housing models to ensure long-term affordability and community stability.

Key Provisions of the Keep Affordable Housing in Forgotten Communities Act:

• Preserving Long-Term Affordability: Promotes the use of Community Land Trusts (CLTs) to maintain affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents for at least 30 years.
• Preventing Displacement: Empowers grant recipients to incorporate affordable housing solutions from the outset of infrastructure redevelopment projects to protect residents from displacement.
• Encouraging Inclusive Housing Options: Supports shared equity homeownership models, resident-owned communities, and rental programs that prioritize affordability and community control.
• Proactive Planning for Affordable Housing: Allows funds to be used to purchase properties near redevelopment projects for affordable housing through CLTs, land banks, and nonprofits.
• Increasing Transparency and Accountability: Requires a joint report from the Department of Transportation and HUD to track rent, homeownership costs, and demographic shifts in areas impacted by the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, ensuring affordability goals are met.

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Background:

Rep. Lee has remained focused on the housing affordability crisis in Western Pennsylvania. For Fiscal Year 2025, Rep. Lee is fighting to secure $3 million in Community Project Funding request for Allegheny County’s initiative. Rep. Lee has also sponsored and cosponsored legislation that would ensure more access to housing and health care for folks experiencing homelessness. She introduced the DIRECT Care for the Homeless Act, a bipartisan bill that creates a pilot program to expand street medicine services. Street medicine is the practice of providing medical care to unsheltered people experiencing homelessness in locations like encampments, parks, and under bridges.Rep. Lee has supported increased federal funding for a variety of programs that are vital in combating, preventing, and ending homelessness in America, such as HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG), of which Allegheny County is a recipient. She is also a cosponsor of the Ending Homelessness Act (Rep. Waters), a bill that would expand and transform the Housing Choice Voucher program into a federal entitlement, ensuring that every person who qualifies for assistance receives it.