Kentucky is facing a serious housing shortage, and the past few years of deadly floods and tornadoes have worsened the situation.

Advocates want lawmakers to commit to more than $300 million Affordable Housing Emergency Action Recovery Trust Fund or "AHEART."

More than 800 eastern Kentucky residents remain temporarily housed in state parks and travel trailers after last summer's flooding.

Maggie Riden - Director of Advocacy for the group FAHE, which provides lending services in the Appalachian region - said the state has reached a housing tipping point.

"Kentucky, like many states in the Appalachian region, has an aging housing stock," said Riden. "Many homes were built well before the 1970s. So we're talking about homes that need substantial repair and upkeep."

She added that AHEART funding would be used to construct or rehab 1,500 new homes.

A report released last year by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation - commonly known as Freddie Mac - found that nationwide, communities are short more than 3 million housing housing units, up from 2.5 million in 2018.

Riden pointed out that the state is sitting on a substantial budget surplus and rainy day fund - and said using that money to build homes will lessen the pressure of future disasters, keeping more Kentucky families in safe, quality housing.

"So," said Riden, "how are we getting resources, state resources on the ground that are flexible, and are able to get folks out of temporary housing or shelter into at least intermediate housing and shelter, while we rebuild?"

Adrienne Bush - executive director of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky - said climate change continues to put more communities on the frontlines of weather disasters, and says states need to boost local resources in order to respond immediately, noting the federal government's grant funding for disaster recovery isn't permanently authorized.

She added that emergency outside relief from FEMA only goes so far.

"FEMA is not designed to make people whole," said Bush. "It's not designed to completely replace everything that people lost in terms of their housing or their livelihood or any of their other needs. It is designed to produce the bare minimum in financial assistance."

Research shows a lack of affordable housing is bad for business. In the nation's top 100 metro areas, housing shortages are stalling economic growth.

Since the Fair Housing Act was established in 1968 to make discrimination in housing illegal, nonprofits around the country have helped investigate cases and counsel victims.

But the Trump administration has cut federal grant funding to many of them, including Montana Fair Housing. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sent Montana Fair Housing a termination notice for a $425,000 annual grant.

Pam Bean, executive director of Montana Fair Housing, said the grant made up 83% of the organization's funding.

"We had no notice, nothing," Bean explained. "The letter indicated our grant 'no longer met the goals and priorities' of the organization."

The letter, dated Feb. 27, stated the termination is effective immediately and is at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk's government cost-slashing program. It comes weeks after HUD laid off hundreds of employees. Many are bracing for further cuts.

Bean pointed out Montana Fair Housing worked on 32 dispute resolutions last year, staving off as many legal complaints.

"Those services are going to be cut back as well," Bean noted. "That probably will lead to the filing of many more complaints."

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is working to change policies and legal definitions regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, a class of people protected by the Fair Housing Act. According to the National Fair Housing Alliance, there were more than 33,000 reported complaints of housing discrimination in the U.S. in 2023.

Coloradans who want to help move the needle on homelessness can still sign up for a lobbying day next Tuesday at the State Capitol.

Cathy Alderman, chief communications and public policy officer with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, expects dozens of people to join this year's effort. Folks will meet up in the morning to hear from a couple of legislators. And they'll get a brief training on how to talk with lawmakers about bills that impact people experiencing homelessness.

"Then we send people out in teams to go find legislators - in their office, sometimes they're debating on the floor, sometimes they're in committee - and we encourage them to support our priorities," she said.

Alderman added this year's legislative priorities include homelessness prevention and resolution, housing availability and access, health care, and economic justice. The group is backing a number of bills, including House Bill 25-1168 which adds protections for victims of gender-based violence in rental housing. Those interested can sign up for the event online at 'ColoradoCoalition.org.'

The coalition is also pressing lawmakers to improve the infrastructure needed to address homelessness across the state. Alderman says House Bill 25-1032 would create a homelessness council, made up of representatives from all state agencies and important stakeholders like local governments and nonprofits, to set a statewide strategy.

"Which we think is really important because it kind of sends a message to the entire community that the state is making this a priority," she explained. "But it needs its local government and nonprofit partners to do the work."

The coalition also supports Senate Bill 25-008, to help people experiencing homelessness and survivors of natural disasters and domestic violence get access to driver's licenses and other vital documents. Alderman said they'll also be tracking any measures related to renter's protections.

"Trying to create that balance between renters and landlords to make sure that folks can stay stably housed. Because we know that it's much more difficult to get housed once you've lost your housing," she added.

A bill making its way through the Maryland General Assembly could protect renters from unjust evictions.

House Bill 709 would create what is known as a "good cause" law. It would enable but not require local governments in Maryland to put eviction laws in place in their communities to prevent landlords from evicting tenants without cause. People could still be evicted for disorderly conduct that disturbs other residents, a major breach of a lease or causing damage to the property.

Erica Puentes, legislative coordinator for the advocacy group Progressive Maryland, said the idea is to help keep Maryland families stable.

"Good cause laws require transparency and accountability from corporate landlords for why they're choosing to evict a tenant," Puentes explained. "'Good cause' would prevent people from being evicted unless the landlord provides a good reason."

A number of city leaders, including the mayors of Baltimore and Takoma Park, have expressed support for a good cause law in the past few years. But some developers and landlords have voiced opposition, saying it would make it more difficult to evict problem tenants.

Corporate landlords file more than 5,000 eviction cases a year without providing a reason, according to the Public Justice Center.

Puentes emphasized all eyes are on the Maryland Senate, where the bill stalled in committee during last year's session. She added the law would give power to local governments to make new tenant laws and policies.

"There is a lot of appetite and need in Maryland for 'good cause,'" Puentes stressed. "Ultimately the counties and municipalities should have the power, and under 'good cause' they would have the power, to enact this legislation, based on the needs of their constituents."

The Public Justice Center reported more than 5,000 Maryland families are made homeless from evictions each year.


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