HB 2667 removes barriers to the Housing and Essential Needs (HEN) rental assistance program that currently prevent seniors and people with permanent disabilities who are homeless from accessing housing assistance. If passed, it would also restore access to housing assistance for people who are homeless and who are participating in treatment for a substance use disorder.
This bill fixes a significant problem that is currently causing people to experience homelessness, only because their disability status is deemed permanent or because they are participating in a substance use disorder treatment. This is unfair, inhumane, and is an inefficient use of public resources.
With homelessness at crisis levels across our state, it is unacceptable to force disabled people to suffer the brutality of homelessness, especially when there are resources available to assist them. People experiencing homelessness are exposed to life-threatening situations on a daily basis and have significantly increased barriers applying for federal Supplemental Security Income. Further, some communities administering HEN have resources available but are actively turning away people who are homeless.
The below organizations and local governments call on the legislature to quickly address this problem by passing HB 2667/Macri in the form that passed out of the House of Representatives with a bipartisan 88 -10 vote this legislative session.