Highland Park mayor testified before congressional briefing panel on Housing America's Workforce Act about value of employer involvement to create workforce housing.
On February 11, Highland Park Mayor Michael Belsky
participated in a legislative briefing panel in Washington D.C., about the Housing America’s Workforce Act. The
panel, hosted by the National Housing Conference
and moderated by MPC, included three very
different employers: Arlington County, Va., Harley Davidson of Milwaukee, Wis., and
CVS of Washington DC. Representatives of each company described the impact of
their employer-assisted housing (EAH) programs and the value of the proposed
national EAH tax credit. Harley Davidson and CVS are among those employers
featured in Understanding Employer-Assisted Housing: A Guidebook for Employers
,
a new Homes
for Working Families publication, co-authored by MPC, which was released immediately
preceding the briefing panel.
Mayor Belsky , a regional leader on affordable and workforce housing
solutions, wrapped up the panel from the perspective of a policymaker. He shared
with legislative staff key details about the Illinois EAH model, upon which the
federal bill is largely based, as well as a number of anecdotes demonstrating
why employer engagement on housing issues is helpful to local elected
officials.
In particular, Mayor Belsky highlighted how the
work of REACH Illinois
is helping frame and bolster Highland Park
and four of its neighboring municipalities to engage employers as supporters of
and, in some cases, investors in affordable housing. Through the work of this new Charter
OneWorkforce Housing
Initiative, these five affluent communities found
that they have nearly 60,000 workers earning less than
$50,000 per year –
and
have
only 5,000 homes affordable to
them.