Chicago — Attorney General Lisa Madigan, along with 16 other attorneys general, today urged the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ( HUD ) to reverse its efforts to dismantle critical fair housing regulations.
The comment letter from Madigan and the other attorneys general was submitted late Monday in response to HUD's proposal to amend the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing ( AFFH ) rule, which provides states, local communities, and public housing agencies with the data and tools they need to reduce racial disparities and concentrations of poverty in their housing and community development initiatives.
In their comments, Madigan and the other attorneys general state, "Racial segregation of our communities is a troubling and visible reflection of the racial and economic inequality in our country. For too long, communities across the country have been made up of two separate and unequal societies divided along racial and ethnic lines." The AFFH rule was a breakthrough policy that made significant strides in affirmatively furthering fair housing."
"Enabling communities to identify the true obstacles to fair housing is critical to making any real progress in addressing housing segregation," Madigan said. "I oppose HUD's efforts to dismantle regulations that further fair housing goals."
Joining Madigan in sending today's letter were the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia and Washington.
—From a press release