For Immediate Release
Friday, January 29, 2016
Contact:
Sarah Bascom, sarah@bascomllc.com, 850.294.6636
Kelsey Swithers, kelsey@bascomllc.com, 941.400.8183
Tallahassee, Fla. – The Sadowski Housing Coalition today applauded the Florida Senate for using all housing trust fund monies for Florida’s housing programs, the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program and State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) program, in their Fiscal Year 2016-17 budget proposal. Specifically, the budget proposal, which was laid out by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development yesterday, recommends that $185.8 million be allocated to SHIP, which includes $7.2 million to provide services to homeless persons, and $131.2 million be allocated to state housing programs including SAIL.
“On behalf of the Sadowski Coalition and Florida’s seniors, veterans, those with special needs and hardworking families, I thank the Senate for continuing to be a stalwart for affordable housing and recommending that all housing trust fund monies go toward housing in their budget proposal,” said Jaimie Ross, facilitator of the Sadowski Coalition, and president and CEO of the Florida Housing Coalition. “We especially appreciate the leadership of Subcommittee Chairman Senator Jack Latvala, Senate Appropriations Chair Senator Tom Lee and Senate President Andy Gardiner for their support of affordable housing.”
“Affordable housing is not only important to those who benefit from it, but also carries a large economic impact, as the full appropriation of affordable housing monies for housing will produce tens of thousands of jobs in Florida and billions of dollars in positive economic impact for the State of Florida,” said Ross. “As we move forward this session, we ask that the House take the Senate’s position during budget negotiations and use all housing trust fund monies for housing.”
For more information on the Sadowski Coalition, please visit SadowskiCoalition.com and follow@SadowskiFL.