Poverty & Race Research Action Council
@prrac.bsky.social
PRRAC is a civil rights organization dedicated to promoting research-based advocacy addressing structural racial and economic inequality. Based in Washington, D.C. PRRAC.org
Great piece from @rcobooth.bsky.social. Some aspects of this issue not explored in the article but worthy of attention: - There is a long track record of successful litigation challenges to occupancy limits in the context of rejected reasonable accommodation requests... www.vox.com/the-highligh...
America’s empty bedrooms are up for grabs
A 20th-century backlash banned a popular affordable housing option. It’s now seeing a revival.
vox.com
Check out this helpful new guidance from progressive state AGs addressing how their state anti-discrimination laws protect against practices that cause unjustified disparate impacts, regardless of the status of the Trump Administration's attacks on civil rights! www.mass.gov/doc/multista...
mass.gov
PRRAC is proud to support @vanhollen.senate.gov & Senator Young's Family Stability & Opportunity Vouchers Act. Investing in rental assistance & mobility counseling that helps families move to well-resourced neighborhoods breaks down entrenched segregation. www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-r...
Van Hollen, Young Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Boost Housing Mobility Vouchers, Increase Families’ Access to Affordable Housing | U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland
Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) reintroduced their bipartisan Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act,...
vanhollen.senate.gov
From friend of PRRAC Richard Rothstein, reviewing an interesting new book about how to curtail judicial supremacy.
The Making of a Judicial Coup
Nikolas Bowie and Daphna Renan’s new book reminds readers that the Supreme Court’s power to determine a law’s validity has no basis in the Constitution.
newrepublic.com
Will New York's Source of Income Protections Survive Legal Challenges?: shelterforce.org/2026/09/03/w...
Will New York's Source of Income Protections Survive Legal Challenges? — Shelterforce
An Ithaca landlord argued in court that the laws force them to consent to government searches. The same reasoning has surfaced in cases across the country.
shelterforce.org
From our stalwart Board member Michael Allen in @shelterforce.bsky.social on the fight for accessible housing.
The Accessibility Rules Were There. The Enforcement Wasn’t. — Shelterforce
Federal accessibility requirements are only as effective as the local governments responsible for enforcing them.
shelterforce.org
Really appreciative of @newsday.bsky.social & @joshuasolomon.bsky.social for reporting this story, which describes some of the most egregious allegations of discrimination and maladministration by a PHA that I've ever seen.
Hempstead's public housing authority discriminated against people of color and with disabilities, feds say
The town's housing authority used an unlawful system to curate its waitlist for apartments, according to federal officials.
newsday.com
Great piece from fair housing advocates in OR about the need to require mapping & spatial analysis in AFFH efforts, including positive case studies & cautionary tales. Worth chewing on in states that don't have AFFH laws but might consider them & in places with existing, underveloped structures.
See No Evil: Oregon Retreats on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Initiative — Shelterforce
Oregon passed laws requiring city housing plans to affirmatively further fair housing. But many cities are refraining from mapping.
shelterforce.org
Great to the Youth Alliance for Housing highlighted in this piece and to see the leadership of young people in challenging both excessive rent increases and exclusionary zoning.
They Have Yet to Sign a Lease. But They’re Furious Over $3,100 Rents.
nytimes.com
Great piece drawing from the work from longtime friend of PRRAC Kirk McClure. I don't think anyone (except the Koch-verse) is suggesting getting rid of LIHTC without a substitute, but I will just underscore that repealing & replacing should be on the table, not simple repeal.
A Low-Income Housing Program Is Pouring Billions Into Housing Many People Can’t Afford
The federal tax credit provides up to $15 billion in subsidies a year to help developers build apartments. It’s created housing that’s often no more affordable than the market rate.
propublica.org
We at PRRAC are proud to have joined with our partners @legaldefensefund.bsky.social to support the passage of landmark fair housing legislation in Maryland. HB 573 codifies the disparate impact standard under Maryland's fair housing law & empowers the state DHCD to issue strong AFFH regulations.
Landmark Fair Housing Legislation Signed into Law in Maryland
Maryland's Fair Chance Housing Act places limits on how landlords use criminal background checks, ensuring applicants are evaluated on their qualifications as tenants today, such as their ability to r...
naacpldf.org
Important reflections on the life and career of Alex Polikoff @impactforequity.bsky.social from Richard Rothstein.
In Memoriam: A Relentless Quest for Desegregation: A Memorial to Alexander Polikoff
Chicago officials ensured public housing segregation. Alexander Polikoff quit private law practice to spend 50 years litigating to end it. He succeeded in “Gautreaux,” but officials’ intransigence pre...
americanbar.org
"Vincent Reina, the founder of the Housing Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania, explains it this way: 'Social housing implies essentially treating housing as an important public good for social welfare.'”
Ideas We Should Steal: Social Housing for a Better City
Vienna and Maryland have invested in innovative, income diverse public housing to much acclaim. Could they work in Philly too?
thephiladelphiacitizen.org
Constant Contact was acting up last Thursday, so we weren't able to get our April 30 Update out. Through the magic of WordPress, however, we have posted it on the website, so you can get the news you need before it gets stale. www.prrac.org/prrac-update...
PRRAC Update: Cavalier CFPB rulemaking approach; Massachusetts rent control brief; HUD comments (April 30, 2026) - PRRAC — Connecting Research to Advocacy
CFPB Publishes Final Rule Undermining the Equal Credit Opportunity Act through Cavalier Approach to the Rulemaking Process: On April 22, 2026, the Consumer
prrac.org
Love to see coverage that captures the real Cea - totally prepared for the job, armed with a vast breadth and depth of housing policy knowledge, and utterly committed to building tenant power.
‘The Housing Czar!’
At the Rental Ripoff Hearings, Cea Weaver — Mayor Mamdani’s trusted tenant adviser and New York Post punching bag — is a minor celebrity.
curbed.com
If you missed your weekly re-read of said Shelterforce piece, here's the link so you don't have to hunt for it.
HUD Scolds Boston and Minneapolis for Doing What It Says It Wants Done — Shelterforce
Investigations into the fair housing practices of Boston and Minneapolis contradict race-neutral guidance from the Supreme Court.
shelterforce.org
An excellent companion piece to my @shelterforce.bsky.social article from January from our friends at @raceforward.org
The Federal Government is Weaponizing the Fair Housing Act. We Must Fight Back.
Op-ed: The federal administration is perverting the landmark civil rights law, with “reverse racism” investigations and “color blind” policy. Communities aren’t taking it lying down.
nextcity.org
Help us get this last $430 so we can start skeeting about federal agency rulemaking again!
Thomas Silverstein@tsilverstein.bsky.social · 6mo agoI promised just one more time (cue Daft Punk) & this is that one more time. I've updated the goal to make it a bit more attainable & I'm confident that we can get to $2,500 raised for PRRAC through this fundraiser. We need $430 more to put us over the top. Can you help us get there?
Probably the second to last but definitely the most savory time we'll highlight this opportunity to support our work.
Thomas Silverstein@tsilverstein.bsky.social · 7mo agoIt is the final week & I've zeroed in on the following hierarchy: (1) don't get hurt, (2) finish & (3) everything else is gravy. However, for PRRAC, your donations aren't gravy, they are the mashed potatoes that provide the carbs to fuel our work. Please donate so this metaphor can leave us sated.
Shouldn't those extra seven miles also mean more comment letters to HUD, more amicus briefs to protect source of income discrimination bans from specious Fourth Amendment attacks, and more late night trouble-shooting with tenant organizers? I'd say yes! 2/2
Your donation not only supports the great work our team does; it also helps justify our ED's soreness.
Thomas Silverstein@tsilverstein.bsky.social · 7mo agoAfter running 19 miles yesterday in my final long run before race day, I was quite tired. My calves were a little sore. My feet were more than a little sore. But, somewhere in my tank (with a bit more rest over the next ~two weeks), there are another seven miles. 1/
An opportunity to both support our work and bolster our ED's resolve? Who could refuse?
Thomas Silverstein@tsilverstein.bsky.social · 7mo agoThings are very bad, like so, so, so bad, but I ran over 17 miles yesterday, which means we're getting pretty close to race day. By donating to my fundraiser, you can help make a segment of the bad things (but not all of them; I won't overpromise) less bad. Do it! www.justgiving.com/page/thomas-...
Please consider supporting our work through a donation to our fearless leader's marathon fundraiser!
Thomas Silverstein@tsilverstein.bsky.social · 8mo agoStill going strong with training and looking forward to some warm weather runs in an undisclosed location over the next week. Chip in!
Yesterday's PRRAC Update presents an opportunity to re-read @tsilverstein.bsky.social's op-ed in @shelterforce.bsky.social (you've read it already, right?), to fret over bad HUD rules, to explore new HOPE VI research, and, most importantly, to imagine different Super Bowl halftime show scenarios.
PRRAC Update: more HUD rulemakings; PRRAC ED op-ed in Shelterforce; HOPE VI research (February 5, 2026) - PRRAC — Connecting Research to Advocacy
A Deluge of Dreck from HUD: Three different harmful rulemakings from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have cleared the inter-agency
prrac.org
Want to support our cutting edge work while boosting Thomas's motivation through the winter cold? Consider donating to this fundraiser!
Thomas Silverstein@tsilverstein.bsky.social · 8mo agoI'm running a marathon - for the first time - in a little over six weeks and would be undyingly grateful for your support! www.justgiving.com/page/thomas-...
“There is simply no legal authority to sustain HUD’s attack on targeted universalist policy interventions.” @tsilverstein.bsky.social, President at AHJ member @prrac.bsky.social, breaks down HUD’s punitive investigations into Boston + Minneapolis:
HUD Scolds Boston and Minneapolis for Doing What It Says It Wants Done
Investigations into the fair housing practices of Boston and Minneapolis contradict race-neutral guidance from the Supreme Court.
shelterforce.org
Our ED @tsilverstein.bsky.social breaks down HUD's latest lawless perversion of the Fair Housing Act.
Thomas Silverstein@tsilverstein.bsky.social · 8mo agoHUD is invoking the Fair Housing Act when attacking disfavored cities for, checks notes, complying with the Fair Housing Act. Read my latest to learn more about what is going on and why it is very bad!
Today, the "day early" version of a proposed HUD rule to rescind the Department's existing disparate impact regulations appeared on the Federal Register website. It will be formally published in the Federal Register tomorrow, kicking off a 30-day comment period. Here's what that all means. 1/
Public Inspection: Implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Disparate Impact Standard
Implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Disparate Impact Standard
federalregister.gov
