Decrying the near-impossibility of homeownership for many educators, two Democratic members of Congress have introduced legislation designed to help bring that goal within reach.
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich announced the bill Monday during a meeting with educators in Albuquerque. U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell of California has introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
The Educator Down Payment Assistance Act would help with home purchases and keep teachers in the communities where they work, according to a news release.
“Corporations and hedge funds are buying up significant amounts of our rental housing stock, causing rent prices to go through the roof, and creating a severe affordable housing shortage,” Heinrich said in the release. “I’m taking action to crack down on corporate greed and help more working people move out of expensive rental housing and into homeownership.”
Swalwell said there is a shortage of teachers in low-income areas, which stems from low pay for educators, and the grants outlined in the act will help provide some relief.
“Thanking our teachers and incentivizing homeownership are causes we can all get behind and benefit from,” Swalwell said in the release.
If passed, the bill would create a competitive grant program through which public school districts and public charter schools, as well as local governments, could provide up to $25,000 each to teachers, principals, specialized instruction support personnel, librarians or counselors.
The grants would be available to elementary and secondary school educators making up to 120% of the area’s median income; that figure would increase to 180% of the area median income in a high-cost area.
Heinrich’s spokesperson, Luis Soriano, said the legislation empowers the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to define “high-cost areas.”
Based on HUD’s multifamily programs, he said, Santa Fe and parts of Albuquerque are considered high-cost.
“The high-cost area designation would only help teachers in New Mexico, as the 180% AMI threshold is well above the salary of even (veteran) teachers,” Soriano said.
Eligibility would begin after an educator has been on the job for three years. Anyone receiving a grant must serve three years at the same school afterward. Soriano said an educator could take a new position at the same school and keep the grant.
The legislation is endorsed by the National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, National Housing Resource Center, and Landed, an advocacy group dedicated to helping educators, healthcare workers and others become homeowners.
Albuquerque Teachers Federation officials Loyola Cortinas and Danni Montoya were among those who met with Heinrich.
Cortinas, the union’s elementary vice president, told the senator that it’s important for schools to recruit educators locally, “so that the community sees themselves represented in our workforce.”
Montoya, a first-grade teacher at Hodgin Elementary School, spoke of her experiences entering the teaching profession.
“I was on food stamps and lived in Section 8 housing growing up,” she told Heinrich. “But when I started teaching, I lost my low-income housing, so my first year of teaching was a struggle for me, trying to manage with three children. Thankfully our union has worked really hard and made great changes, in terms of pushing for the respect educators deserve and getting us raises in pay. We definitely want to retain our current educators and recruit more. And if we can recruit more teachers by giving them this opportunity to help them buy their first home, then that is great.”
On its Facebook page, the ATF acknowledged the bill and said more work is needed.
“As a union, we believe we will not achieve housing justice in Albuquerque until we have repealed the ban on rent control in New Mexico, but we welcome Senator Heinrich’s efforts to help educators and first-time buyers purchase homes,” the federation wrote.
A one-page summary of the bill can be found here.