Op-Ed: Idaho's leaders can lower barriers to fair housing

Everyone deserves access to safe and affordable housing, and rapidly increasing rents and home prices are making it more difficult for Idahoans to achieve this goal. Further, Idahoans with disabilities, Idahoans of color, families with children and Idahoans on fixed incomes are more likely to struggle to keep up due to wealth and income inequalities and discrimination in housing. Housing is health care.

According to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), rents are affordable when they don't exceed 30% of household income. The National Low Income Housing Coalition found that Idaho renters must earn $17.36 per hour to afford a modest two-bedroom home at the fair market rent of $903. However, the average Idaho renter earns $13.20 — meaning most renters are paying unaffordable rent. Further, households of color earn lower wages than white households on average, and many individuals unable to work due to a disability rely on fixed incomes to cover their monthly expenses. High rents force renters to dedicate more of their income to housing with almost nothing left over for necessities or savings.

Idaho has a shortage of over 22,000 affordable and available homes for renters with modest incomes, and discriminatory housing practices further limit appropriate and affordable housing options. Idahoans of color, families with children, and Idahoans living with disabilities are more likely to experience discrimination in housing than other renters despite the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in the sale and rent of housing based on a person’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or familial status. For example, HUD reports that Hispanic, Black, and Asian renters are shown fewer available units compared to equally qualified white renters and those looking to buy are often shown homes in low-opportunity neighborhoods.

Homeownership is an important component of building generational wealth, however, Idahoans of color and Idahoans with disabilities are more likely to experience housing cost burden and struggle to achieve home ownership. For example, Prosperity Now reports that 46% of white renter households in Idaho are cost-burdened compared to 51% of Latino households and 59% of Black households, and 42% of households without a disability are cost burdened compared to 58% of households with a disability. High housing costs prevent families from achieving financial security and broaden the wealth gap between white households and households of color and other vulnerable Idahoans.

Congress has the opportunity to support $150 billion in long-term housing investments by approving the Build Back Better Act. It would expand rental assistance through the Housing Choice Voucher program to 2,600 Idahoans — including 1,000 children and 600 Idahoans with disabilities. Idaho would also receive an estimated $52 million from the National Housing Trust Fund to build and preserve more affordable homes.

It is time for Idaho’s leaders to support policies and investments that ensure all Idahoans have access to a safe and affordable home.

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Zoe Ann Olson is the executive director of the Intermountain Fair Housing Council, Inc. and has been with IFHC for more than nine years now. Olson has 14 years of experience as an attorney with Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc., where she served as the Housing Specialty Chair and Fair Housing/Fair Lending Project Director. Olson has had extensive fair housing training via John Marshall University, Seattle University, HUD, Accessibility First, National Consumer Law Center, National Fair Housing Alliance, EPA, and AARP.