House GOP to push amendment to stop non-profit voter registration and GOTV
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights emails: The U.S. House of Representatives will likely vote this week on a provision that would dramatically restrict the ability of Americans to engage in our democratic process. Financial Services Committee Chair Mike Oxley, R-Ohio, will propose a "manager's amendment" to the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) in the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act (H.R. 1461) that would have a chilling effect on the nonprofit community's ability to participate in nonpartisan voter activities.
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The egregious "manager's amendment" provisions would restrict nonprofit entities from receiving AHF grants if the organization has, in the 12 months prior, engaged in voter registration, voter identification, get-out-the-vote, other nonpartisan voter participation activities, or some types of lobbying or grassroots advocacy. Further, any nonprofit that has "affiliated" with an organization that engages in these activities would be barred from receiving grants. Nonprofits that did receive grants would be prohibited from engaging in any of these activities, even if non-federal funds were used to pay for them. Notably, for-profit companies are exempt from these restrictions.
These provisions are blatantly undemocratic and likely unconstitutional. Further, they conflict with requirements of the National Voter Registration Act (the "motor voter law"), which requires many agencies that receive state funding to conduct voter registration with their residents or clients. These provisions seem intended for no other purpose than to reduce access to voting by low-income people.
While the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) supports the Affordable Housing Fund, which would establish grants to produce and preserve housing that is affordable to extremely low and very low-income families, LCCR strongly opposes the anti-democratic provisions in the manager's amendment.
A broad coalition of housing, community development, faith-based, nonprofit rights, and civil rights organizations are working to have the egregious language removed. It is also critically important that your representative hear from you!