Legislative Update
From the USCCB

Major Victory- Housing Trust Fund Moves Closer to Enactment!
The Housing Trust Fund took two steps closer to creation yesterday as President Bush withdrew his veto threat and the House of Representatives voted 272-152 for final passage of a large housing bill addressing several issues including the creation of the trust fund.  The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, described by the New York Times as “the most far-reaching government assistance for the nation’s housing market since the New Deal,” now moves quickly to the Senate where passage is expected.  Besides the much discussed provisions protecting the two largest mortgage finance companies in America (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and help for thousands of distressed homeowners facing foreclosure, the bill has two provisions that will aid low income families and the communities they live in.
          First, the bill provides$3.9 billion in grants to state and local governments to buy and refurbish foreclosed properties through non-profit organizations for sale and rental to low income families.  This will mitigate the destructive effects of the predatory lending practices which targeted poor, elderly or Black and Hispanic neighborhoods that have left whole communities in a sea of foreclosures.
            Second, the bill creates an affordable housing trust fund that will allow for the construction and rehabilitation of rental housing for extremely low income Americans, for whom available and affordable housing units are scarce.  The USCCB has supported the creation of a national housing trust fund for several years.  Thank You for all your work and advocacy on this issue!  This is a major legislative victory!

Minimum Wage Climbs Again!
            On July 24, the second stage of a three-step minimum wage hike takes effect, as per the new minimum wage increased signed into law earlier this year.  The increase from $5.85 to $6.55 an hour raises the wages of millions of workers across the country.  Next year the minimum wage will climb to $7.25 where it will stay awaiting Congressional action.  The new wage level of  $6.55 is $13,624 a year (for a 40 hour week, 52 weeks) is just above the poverty line for a family of two ($13,167) and still below what a family of three needs to reach the ‘official’ federal poverty line ($16,067).  Neither figure represents a living wage or a family wage, but it’s a good start.