HUD highlights housing mobility research: One of HUD’s research publications, “The Edge,” just published a great overview of our research panel at the 9th National Housing Mobility Conference last September. See the article here.
NY Governor takes on source of income discrimination: This week, in her annual state of the state address and report, Governor Hochul took on discrimination against families with housing vouchers, directing the New York State Division of Human Rights “to launch a new enforcement unit dedicated to swift resolution of complaints about housing discrimination related to Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers. This Early Intervention Unit would help to resolve issues and place impacted individuals and families in available housing to which they had been impermissibly denied access based on their vouchers.” The governor also pledged to “propose legislation to prohibit insurance carriers from inquiring about or considering tenants’ source of income.” As previously reported here, the New York State Attorney General’s office has also been doing important work to identify and prosecute landlords who discriminate against applicants with vouchers.
A new wave of school integration litigation continues: In a landmark opinion that reaffirms the potential of state constitutional law to address school segregation, the Minnesota Supreme Court last month released its second opinion in the Cruz-Guzman v. State of Minnesota case. The court held that the state’s liability for school segregation in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area does not require proof of intentional segregation, nor proof that the state helped cause segregation, but rather only that the condition of school segregation was a substantial factor in causing student plaintiffs to receive an inadequate education. The Cruz-Guzman decision paves the way for a trial next year. This decision follows a similar lower court rulingin October in the ongoing New Jersey litigation, Latino Action Network et al v. State of NJ.
Tenant organizing in Kansas City: Here is a video worth watching about KC Tenants’ recent organizing campaigns: “Renter Revolt: Housing and Human Rights in America’s Heartland.” (KC Tenants was also profiled in our March 2023 issue of Poverty & Race)
p.s. – to receive this biweekly e-newsletter, sign up here.
