NAC Blog: The time to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform starts now.

NAC

The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 was released last week by Senator Bob Menendez in the Senate and U.S. Representative Linda Sanchez in the House of Representatives. We’ve waited for this moment for a long time familia, a real shot at passing comprehensive immigration reform. If you look at every single one of our State of Hispanic Homeownership Reports, you’ll find that passing a sweeping immigration bill has been a consistent cornerstone of our policy priorities for the past decade. You may ask, what does immigration have to do with housing and advancing sustainable Hispanic homeownership? Everything.

NAC Blog: Congress takes on housing inventory

NAC

First of all, to all of our familia in Texas going through the freezing weather and power outages, in a state with an infrastructure not built to withstand those temperatures, I hope everyone is safe and warm. I hope all of you are putting your “San Marcos cobijas” to good use, you know you have them. To all of our NAHREP Tejanos, you’ve been in my thoughts and prayers. Speaking of Texas, last week I met with all of the NAHREP government affairs directors in Texas. Coming from California with outrageous housing prices, I tend to see Texas as the state where all the Californian’s are moving to. However, based on that conversation, it is clear that housing inventory shortages are being felt universally across the nation, even in Texas.

NAHREP responds to the Federal Reserve’s proposed changes to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)

Policy Actions

In response to the Federal Reserve’s proposed changes to the Community Reinvestment Act, NAHREP urges the Federal Reserve to strengthen the rigor of CRA exams in order to expedite a full economic recovery, particularly for those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. NAHREP encourages the Federal Reserve to prevent grade inflation by preserving the five subtest threshold at the state-level, require race and ethnicity data on CRA exams, and continue support for enhanced data collection, including community development financing data.  NAHREP commends the rule’s focus on transparent data analysis and quantitative measures of impact on communities.

NAC Blog: The latest on CRA

NAC

A few weeks ago, the National Advocacy Committee Regionals met for a virtual retreat to plan out the year and dream big goals for what we can accomplish as we grow our advocacy operation. As we prepare for a year of big legislative fights, such as increasing housing inventory and passing immigration reform, we need to be prepared and ready to wield the power of our people when it counts. One of the primary ways in which we do that is through growing our National Advocacy Committee, individuals that have raised their hand to join our advocacy efforts. If you are receiving this blog post via email, you’ve likely already joined the NAC. You know the drill, you’re a rock star! If you’re reading this through social media, we invite you to join today.

NAC Blog: Rethinking Cities After COVID-19

NAC

Aside from my work in the policy and advocacy space, I run the Hispanic Wealth Project along with HWP Chairman Jerry Ascencio. One of my favorite things about the NAHREP 10 is that no matter where we are in our financial journey, whether we just got our real estate license and are working on paying off our credit cards or we’re extremely successful business owners, there is always a place to improve. For me, I’ve been focusing on tackling NAHREP 10 Discipline #5: Invest at least 20% of your income in real estate and stocks, because they are the best and safest way to build wealth.

NAC Blog: Immigration Bill Introduced in Congress

NAC

Let’s talk about immigration today. I am declaring it into the universe: We will pass comprehensive immigration reform by the end of the year. Who is with me here? I’ve had a front row seat to two previous attempts at passing an immigration reform bill in Washington D.C. The reason these bills haven’t passed is because immigration is HARD. Immigration is what is known in politics as a wedge issue, or issues that invoke strong responses from both sides.

NAC Blog: A new President and a flurry of executive actions, the fate of the GSEs & NAHREP CA takes on housing inventory

NAC

Today we wake up to a new President. Yesterday we saw the first Latina Supreme Court Justice swear in the first woman of color to the office of Vice President, and J-Lo reclaimed our place in this country by singing “This Land is Our Land.” So much to unpack there. However, between last week and this week a whole lotta POLICY that applies to our mission happened so let’s get right to it.