ICYMI: HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge Visits Atlanta to Rally Behind the Build Back Better Agenda

Yesterday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge was joined in Atlanta by Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff as well as Congresswoman Nikema Williams, State Representative Calvin Smyre, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis to tout President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda. 

The Democratic leaders toured Herndon Square — an affordable housing complex — and discussed the historic investments in Georgia jobs and competitiveness our state will receive from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal and the Build Back Better Act. Secretary Fudge’s visit follows trips to the Peach State from Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last month.

Read more about Sec. Fudge’s visit:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Democrats rally behind Biden’s social policy initiatives

• As Congress prepares for a series of key votes to pave the way for President Joe Biden’s signature policy legislation, Georgia Democrats raced to drum up support for the far-reaching domestic package with a series of events across Atlanta.
• Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge joined state Democrats Monday to promote Biden’s $3.5 trillion social safety net plan, a massive expansion of education, childcare, healthcare and climate change programs that could reach a vote as early as this week.
• U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, vowed the epic bout of voting over the next few days will yield transformative results.
• “Though we’re still waiting to see what specifically will be in the final legislation, we’re going to get it done, y’all,” Williams said at an affordable housing development on the city’s westside. “There are too many Georgia families that are counting on us to get it done.”
• State Democrats said the tightrope act would be worth it, bringing vast changes to housing policy. The measure includes tax credits to bolster affordable housing developments, with a goal of building 1.5 million sustainable homes around the country.
• “The work that we’re doing in Congress right now to advance meaningful investments in affordable housing will have a positive impact on the lives of so many Georgians who lay at wake at night worrying whether they’ll be able to make the rent,” said U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
• He was echoed by U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who said more housing options will “keep families and communities in our state strong.”
• “Housing is stability. Housing is dignity,” said Warnock, who is up for re-election in 2022. “Housing is absolutely necessary, critical infrastructure.”
• Fudge said the president’s spending initiatives will mark a “defining moment” in the nation’s history.

Atlanta Voice: HUD Secretary Fudge meets with Atlanta Mayor Bottoms to promote affordable housing

• Monday morning, U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge visited Atlanta as she toured Herndon Square as the City of Atlanta continues to promote their affordable housing initiatives.
• Fudge was in Atlanta promoting President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better infrastructure plan, which emphasizes investments in housing construction and rehabilitation, economic development, and community revitalization. President Biden’s Build Back Better Plan is in two the form of two bills, one a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that would rebuild and repair traditional infrastructure in the U.S., and a broad $3.5 trillion measure that could pass with only the support of Democrats, via budget reconciliation.
• “You know one of the reasons that Black home ownership is the same as it was for a percentage as compared to white home ownership as it was in 1968, is because we don’t have down payment assistance,” Fudge said. “We can change that. In this HUD, we’re given down payment assistance so that you can start with equity in your house. In this HUD, we are neutralizing student loan debt. Who has student loan debt? Black, Brown and poor people.  We’re changing that, so that your student loan debt will not count so heavily against you and you’re going to get credit.
• We’re starting to give small dollar loans. You know what it is like if you have neighborhoods that have been red-lined for so long, you can go and buy a house for 10 or $20,000 but the banks won’t loan you the money to fix it. We’re changing that and we’re going to rebuild our neighborhoods and our communities.”
• “Housing is dignity. Housing is absolutely necessary, critical infrastructure,” Senator Warnock explained. “And so I’m proud to stand aside leaders from our state who have been in the fight to ensure a pathway to safe, stable and affordable housing for all Georgians, the pathway to housing should be fair and equitable for everyone, and access to affordable housing is the infrastructure, people in our communities need to elevate families into the working class and the middle class. It is the foundation that helps people support their families and contribute to their economies.”
• “The work that we’re doing in Congress right now to advance meaningful investments in affordable housing will have a real impact, a positive impact on the daily lives of so many Georgians,” said Senator Ossoff. “Far too many Georgians lay awake at night worrying whether they’ll be able to make the rent because of housing shortages, and the far too many of our fellow Georgians who lack secure access to housing and find themselves on housed, or unstably housed.”

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