Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) spearheaded a recent letter to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Scott Turner, urging the Trump official against rolling back the disparate impact standard in housing.
The disparate impact standard essentially means that housing, moneylending, and community development policies cannot unintentionally discriminate against protected classes, even if the intent to discriminate is not present.
In January, the Trump Administration proposed diluting this rule, which Sen. Gallego and other Democratic members of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee are objecting to, arguing that the rollback will violate the Fair Housing Act and drive up housing costs.
"We have serious concerns that HUD is more broadly abdicating its [Fair Housing Act] enforcement obligations, which will ultimately make housing less equitable, less affordable, and less accessible for generations to come," Sen. Gallego wrote, adding, "We call on HUD to withdraw its proposed rule and to recommit itself to enforcement of fair housing and civil rights laws for all."
Sen. Gallego continued, "Disparate impact liability is well-established in the law, and has been reaffirmed since HUD's 2013 rulemaking," and the proposed rule "abandons HUD's decades-long commitment to fighting housing discrimination—without any persuasive justification."
Thus, if the rule is allowed to stay, housing discrimination will be allowed to run rampant, driving up costs even more as many Americans struggle to afford a home.
Last January, the Arizona Senator grilled Secretary Turner during his confirmation hearing, beginning by saying, "Arizona is at the forefront of housing scarcity on all fronts, whether it is apartments, whether it is housing, whether it is new or old, and it's not just in metro areas, even our rural areas."
Turner said, "One thing, if confirmed by this Committee as the Secretary of HUD, we have to take care of American citizens and American families. It is not only the right thing to do; it is not just what we are called to do, but it is the law. Even right now, we are not serving the amount of American people and American families that we have been called to serve."
