Yes, President Trump can
halt HUD's Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing program even before Dr. Carson
is confirmed. The steps below will also serve as pinpointed instructions to
assist incoming Secretary Carson.
If you have been
following the news, you have probably noticed that President Trump is moving
quickly on his campaign promises.
You have also probably
noticed that, while vetting is important, a few in the Senate opposition appear
to be slow-walking some cabinet appointments to make it harder for the
President to address regulatory actions.
The reason some in
Congress believe they can slow Trump is because they know that Presidents who
follow the law are limited in what they can do through executive orders.
For instance, a prior
executive order is easily overturned by an incoming president. But, if a federal agency creates a regulation
out of an executive order, then, it becomes law, and only Congress can defund
it or create another rule countering the first.
Much of AFFH is buried in regulatory law.
Without a Secretary to
lead the agency and with limits on executive orders, what can a president
do? Well, in the case of Affirmatively
Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH), a lot.
One of President Trump’s
promises to Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, was to end HUD’s AFFH
program. AFFH is a 2015 HUD rule that
expands the definitions of what constitutes discrimination and creates an
application process that greatly exposes grant recipients to compliance reviews,
lawsuits, and other legal actions for failure to comply with HUD’s increasingly
dictatorial demands.
Donald Trump, acting on
his own can easily incapacitate AFFH until the incoming Secretary can
coordinate with Congress to fully eliminate the threat. Even if the confirmation proves takes months!
Here are the bases for
three executive orders, or they can be the less formal but equally potent
executive memoranda, President Trump can pass to Housing and Urban Development
that will temporarily halt AFFH while awaiting permanent measures. There also three additional orders to assure
AFFH does not harass communities.
Remember, any actions
Trump takes by executive order can be easily reversed by an incoming
president. That is why it is important
Trump and the Secretary work with Congress to create a new law that protects
property rights and local rule from HUD’s encroachments in numerous areas that
extend beyond AFFH.
Here is how President
Trump can immediately stop the AFFH threat to communities.
Stop AFFH order one:
Instruct HUD to remove
all references to “regions’” and the requirement to align the Assessment of
Fair Housing application process and/or the grant recipients consolidated plan
with a region. This order applies to any
grants associated with Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, including CDBG,
HOPWA, ESG and HOME grants both by communities and public housing authorities
(PHAs).
(http://sustainablefreedomlab.org/wp-content/uploads
/2015/11/AFFH-Assessment-of-Fair-Housing-Tool-1.pdf?ct=t()&mc_cid=01841f07f3& mc_eid=[UNIQID])
This eliminates the move
by HUD to herd communities into regional planning under the guise of fair
housing and preventing discrimination.
Stop AFFH order two:
Instruct HUD to remove
the requirement that, except with the agency’s permission, communities and PHAs
must use HUD supplied data for creating plans when applying for HUD grant funds
under CDBG, HOPWA, ESG and HOME grants.
Instead, allow communities to provide their own data.
HUD’s provided data
tables and demographic charts create the core for centrally controlled planning
and manipulation of local communities into regional planning efforts. Removing this tool limits federal control of
housing locations and human re-locations.
Stop AFFH order three:
Remove the statement in
the HUD grant application requiring grant recipients to “take no action
materially inconsistent with HUD’s goal of affirmatively furthering fair
housing.” Replace with “recipients shall only use these funds in a manner
consistent with the Fair Housing Act as passed by Congress.”
The “materially
inconsistent” statement is the basis for False Claims Act lawsuits, one of
several threats the agency uses to coerce communities into planning and zoning
compliance.
(http://sustainablefreedomlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/ 11/HUD-Sets-Stage-For-FCA-Claims-Law360.pdf?ct=t()&
mc_cid=01841f07f3&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
Together, these orders
will stop the immediate risks currently attached to AFFH related grants. The next three will stop most HUD programs
that use specious assessment and reports to gain collective community
compliance.
Stop AFFH order four:
Instruct HUD to
immediately cease using zip codes as the basis for establishing Section 8
voucher values. This applies to the
Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMR) program and all other zip code related
programs.
The SAFMR program
enables HUD to relocate families, often against their will, and to resettle
established communities with little regard to current residents, zoning laws,
or personal property rights.
(http://1vn1g5pwbqm1hzb3svyox816.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/AFFH-IN-FEDERAL-REGISTER.pdf?ct=t()&mc_cid=01841f07f3&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
Stop AFFH order five:
Instruct HUD to halt all
programs related to the Move to Opportunity (MTO) initiative until the
Secretary can re-evaluate the effectiveness of MTO and conduct a cost benefit
analysis.
Like SAFMR above, MTO enables
HUD to relocate families, and ignore local zoning laws, or personal property
rights. MTO advances HUD’s concept of income integration. There is no provision
in the Fair Housing Act to relocate families to gain equal representations of
income in areas.
(http://1vn1g5pwbqm1hzb3svyox816.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HUD-2011-MTO-Study-Shows-Program-Failures.pdf?ct=t()&mc_cid=0184 1f07f3 &mc_eid=[UNIQID])
Stop AFFH order six:
Instruct HUD to cease
educational and training efforts at the department’s four regional Equity
Assistance Centers regarding “income diversity” and “upward mobility” until the
programs can be re-evaluated by the incoming secretary. This includes flyers, electronic messaging
and all other forms of communication.
(http://sustainablefreedomlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2015 /11/EAC-Proposed-Rule-in-Federal-Register.pdf?ct=t()&mc
_cid=01841f07f3&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
As Property Value
Defense explained,
(http://sustainablefreedomlab.org/property-value-defense/?ct=t()&mc_cid=01841f07f3&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
In June 2016, HUD formed
a team
with the Department of
Education and the Department of Transportation to advance classroom diversity
in all elementary and secondary schools using income as its basis. The program is extrapolated from former
President Obama’s 2017 HUD budget item entitled, “Stronger Together.” This entire program needs review.
In addition, there are
important issues of the application of “disparate impact and the reapplication
of HUD grant funds which must be addressed by the Secretary.
(http://1vn1g5pwbqm1hzb3svyox816.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/DISPARATE-IMPACT-CASE-ANALYSIS.pdf?ct=t()&mc_cid=01841f07 f3&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) ”
These steps are not
permanent solutions. They are stop gap
measures that protect communities from the immediate threat of AFFH related
grants and establish that the administration intends to fully overhaul the AFFH
program.
Throughout the coming
months, Property Value Defense
(http://sustainablefreedomlab.org/property-value-defense/?ct=t()&mc_cid=01841f07f3&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
will keep you informed with reliable, accurate, and knowledegable information
Yours in liberty, John
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