Sadowski Housing Coalition Statement Regarding Agreement to Use Discretionary Settlement Funds for Housing
Tallahassee, Fla. – The Sadowski Housing Coalition today released the following statement attributed to Jaimie Ross, facilitator for the coalition, regarding the agreement between Attorney General Pam Bondi and legislative leaders to use discretionary mortgage-settlement dollars for housing. Under the bank settlement terms, these funds were to be used to help avoid preventable foreclosures and alleviate effects of the foreclosure crisis throughout the state.
“The Sadowski Coalition thanks Attorney General Pam Bondi, President-designate Don Gaetz and Speaker-designate Will Weatherford for working together and reaching the agreement to use the discretionary $300 million of the negotiated bank settlement for housing, and for supporting the appropriation of these funds for housing-related purposes throughout the legislative process.
“As advocates for Florida’s affordable housing programs, the Sadowski Coalition looks forward to working with legislative leaders and members of the Florida Legislature, and communicating the many attributes of Florida’s successful affordable housing programs, including the State Housing Initiative Program (SHIP) and the State Apartment Incentive Loan Program (SAIL). The commitment of these dollars to SHIP and SAIL would be of monumental significance to the thousands of Florida families in need of relief from the foreclosure crisis, and would help put Florida workers, who are now unemployed or underemployed, back to work repairing and refurbishing existing housing stock.
“As we look forward to the 2013 Legislative Session, the Sadowski Coalition remains optimistic that legislative leaders and members of the Florida Legislature will preserve Florida’s housing trust funds to make use of these highly effective programs as a means to getting Florida back on the path to economic recovery.”
For more information on the Sadowski Coalition, please click here.
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The Sadowski Housing Coalition is a nonpartisan collection of 24 statewide organizations. This coalition came together in 1991 with the goal of obtaining a dedicated revenue source for Florida’s affordable housing programs. Membership in the Sadowski Coalition ranges from business and industry groups to faith-based organizations, demonstrating a wide breadth of support across all industries in the State of Florida.