| I’m back again with another weekly update, starting with the list of upcoming meetings and events: |
| Upcoming meetings and events TODAY IN LANSING: Nation Outside and Vera Institute for Justice are holding Capitol Day for Fair Chance Housing from 9:00-4:00pm at the state capitol. I hope to see some of you there! TODAY IN WASHTENAW CO: McKinley Tenants Association will be appearing at Ypsilanti Township board at 7:00pm to speak the truth about rental conditions and improved code enforcement. More info on their website: https://mckinleytenantsassociation.org/ SUNDAY OCT 22, 12:30 – 4:30 PM: LANSING RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH STRATEGY SESSION. Lansing area residents only, please. This is to plan the future of our local tenant organizing here in the capital region. Location is the Capital Area District Library downtown branch, basement meeting room B/C. You may join by Zoom if you can’t make it in-person. RSVP for the strategy session at this link. MONDAY OCT 23, 4:00 – 5:00 PM – STATEWIDE ENDORSING GROUPS ZOOM MEETING. The link for this call will be distributed via the endorsing groups listserv. (Reply to this email if you think you should be on this listserv and aren’t.) WEDNESDAY OCT 25, 6:00 – 7:30 PM – LANSING RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH GENERAL MEETING. Location is the Fledge, 1300 Eureka St. You may join by Zoom if you can’t make it in-person. Zoom registration is via this link. |
| Legislative hearings update Once again, none of our top priorities are currently scheduled on the agenda this week in the House or the Senate housing committees, but some of us will be turning out no matter what to let them know we’re watching. Senate Housing & Human Services Committee: Tuesday Oct 17, 12:00pm, Capitol Room 403. No housing items on the agenda for today. Several other items will be heard. House Housing Subcommittee: Thursday Oct 19, 10:30am, Anderson House Office Building Room 326. No official meeting announcement or agenda has been posted at time of sending this email. This is unfortunately becoming a pattern for this committee, thanks to the lack of urgency we are seeing from its chair. Read on for more information… |
| Call to action: Call Rep. Kevin Coleman right now & write a letter Representative Kevin Coleman of Westland is the Chair of the House Housing Subcommittee. He happens to also be running for Mayor of Westland in November’s upcoming election. Based on the glacial pace of action in his committee, it appears that Rep. Coleman may be prioritizing his Mayoral race over his duties as a member of the House. We haven’t yet heard any commitment that the Homeless Bill of Rights or the Fair Chance Access to Housing Act will receive a vote, even though they have both been heard before the committee. Nor have we heard a commitment that the Rent Control Preemption Repeal, the top priority of renters around the state, will even receive a hearing. Kevin Coleman is twiddling his thumbs while the opportunity to help renters slips through his fingers. We haven’t seen a shred of urgency. This is unacceptable. Please call Kevin Coleman: Dial (517) 373-2275 and tell him to prioritize renters rights before it’s too late. Before adjourning for the year, he should do the following on the House Housing sub-committee: 1. Hold a committee vote on the Homeless Bill of Rights (HB 4919) and pass it 2. Hold a committee vote on the Fair Chance Access to Housing Act (HB 4878) and pass it 3. Hold a committee hearing on the Rent Control Preemption Repeal (HB 4947) After calling Rep. Coleman, use this letter tool to send a letter to your own representative: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/ritdh-oct23 That’s all for this week. Remember that housing is a human right, and we’re going to keep fighting until we all have the housing we deserve. Will |
