AOC and Bernie Sanders give public housing a Green New Deal makeover
by Mary McCue Bell · The Washington TimesRep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernard Sanders are out with a new “Green New Deal for Public Housing.”
The bill would recognize housing as a right, provide childcare and stipends for public housing residents, and mandate energy retrofits for public housing such as requiring all-electric, American-made appliances and infrastructure.
“In the richest country in the history of the world, it is unacceptable that our nation’s public housing is in a state of chronic disrepair,” said Mr. Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont. “It is unacceptable that hundreds of millions of Americans are facing the disastrous impacts of climate change while the fossil fuel industry makes huge profits.”
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said Congress must ensure the U.S. housing stock is affordable and resilient.
“From record-breaking heat waves to extreme flooding displacing public housing residents, Americans are feeling the parallel impacts of the housing and climate crisis,” the New York Democrat said.
The legislation is dead on arrival in the Republican-run House and Senate, but it lays down a marker for public housing goals of the Democratic Party’s socialist wing.
The bill explicitly frames housing as a right by declaring that it is U.S. policy “to guarantee the right to housing for every individual” and by making the federal government responsible for ensuring safe, habitable, energy-efficient housing while expanding and preserving public housing where the private market fails.
It would also mandate a rebuild of the public housing workforce, fixes to “severely distressed housing,” maximize low-income tenant participation, convert the entire public housing stock to net-zero-carbon energy use and update architectural design standards to emphasize accessibility, sustainability and equity.
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“Safe, sustainable, resilient, affordable housing is a HUMAN RIGHT, plain and simple,” said Rep. Delia C. Ramirez of Illinois, a member of Congress’ far-left “Squad” who also co-authored the bill.
At its core, the bill creates two major grant programs run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Workforce development grants would fund job training, apprenticeships, worker co-ops, financial literacy and prioritize formerly incarcerated individuals and Section 3 compliance support for resident-owned businesses.
Public housing grants would fund deep energy retrofits, water quality fixes, renewable energy generation, resilience projects, including 48-hour emergency power backup and building code compliance.
Unions also get a formal role in the grant process.
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Applicants need written sign-off from local unions confirming that proposed work will not displace their members. On projects using union labor, apprentices must make up at least 20% of the workforce where practicable.
The bill has substantial pro-union provisions woven throughout.
Contractors on funded projects must pay Davis-Bacon prevailing wages, the standard requiring workers on federal construction projects over $2,000 to be paid local prevailing wages and benefits. Projects over $25 million must also use a project labor agreement.
Contractors cannot require mandatory arbitration for worker disputes. They also would have to treat workers as employees rather than independent contractors unless they meet a strict legal test, meaning third parties, including local governments, can sue to enforce that rule.
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The bill stipulates funds cannot be used to break a strike, replace locked-out workers or override an existing collective bargaining agreement. Contractors cannot displace or cut hours, wages or benefits for existing staff, and they must also adopt policies supporting organizing and voluntarily recognize a union once a majority of workers request it.
The bill is endorsed by building trades unions, including the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.
The bill has a total of 46 Democratic cosponsors but no Republican cosponsors.
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Mary McCue Bell
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