County Leaders Unite to Drive Federal Action on Housing and Homelessness

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association of Counties (NACo) and county leaders from large urban counties across the country are coming together for a leadership fly-in meeting April 22-23 to explore innovative solutions for housing and homelessness in urban communities. The event provides a platform for peer exchange among county leaders, highlights leading local strategies and strengthens federal advocacy efforts to align national policies with county-driven solutions.  

County leaders will engage with federal officials, congressional policymakers and non-traditional partners, including businesses, lenders and developers, to discuss how collaborative approaches can expand housing supply, improve affordability and address homelessness. Sessions include:  
 

• A Roundtable with the American Enterprise Institute and the National Association of Home Builders to explore insights from business leaders and policy experts on the link between housing and economic growth and how non-traditional stakeholders can support local housing reforms.   
   
• A lunch discussion with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Finance Agency to understand enterprise housing goals and share county-level insights to ensure federal policies and programs reflect local housing needs. 
   
• A meeting with bipartisan leads of key housing caucuses and committees to discuss next steps for advancing and aligning federal policy with local solutions.  

“Counties are on the front lines of our nation’s housing and homelessness challenges, and congressional reforms like the 21st Century Housing Act and the ROAD to Housing Act as well as HUD programs must be viewed as essential tools for local innovation,” said Matthew Chase, Executive Director of the National Association of Counties. “As intergovernmental partners, county officials are working to bring together public, private and non-traditional stakeholders to design solutions that reflect the unique needs of our communities. This fly-in reflects a growing, cross-sector effort among America’s counties to strengthen collaboration at every level of government and across industries, and to build the momentum needed to address our nation’s housing challenges.”

For more details about NACo’s work on housing affordability, click here. For more information about NACo’s Large Urban County Caucus, click here.