PRINTER'S NO. 2220
No. 240 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY MURPHY, KITCHEN, HART, TARTAGLIONE AND WAGNER,
OCTOBER 6, 1998
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, OCTOBER 6, 1998
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the President and the Congress of the United
2 States to require the United States Department of Housing and
3 Urban Development to work in cooperation with state and local
4 governments when seeking to make affordable housing
5 opportunities available and to require full disclosure and
6 cooperation, including community participation, to determine
7 that basic services are available prior to placement of
8 publicly assisted housing in a community.
9 WHEREAS, It is the goal of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
10 and the United States that all citizens enjoy safe and
11 affordable housing; and
12 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United
13 States should promote the goal of providing decent and
14 affordable housing for all citizens through the efforts and
15 encouragement of Federal, state and local governments and by the
16 independent and collective actions of private citizens,
17 organizations and the private sector; and
18 WHEREAS, The United States Department of Housing and Urban
19 Development was created to accomplish this goal through the use
20 of Federal resources and programs to aid families and
1 individuals seeking affordable homes that are safe, clean and
2 healthy and, in particular, to assist responsible, deserving
3 citizens who cannot provide fully for themselves because of
4 circumstances or factors beyond their control; and
5 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acknowledges that
6 housing is a basic and necessary component of bringing true
7 opportunity to people and communities in need, but providing
8 physical structures to low-income families will not by itself
9 remove generations from poverty; and
10 WHEREAS, In determining future locations for federally
11 assisted public housing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the
12 United States Department of Housing and Urban Development needs
13 to look not only at the housing opportunities available in
14 targeted communities but also at the availability and
15 accessibility of basic services and programs in that community;
16 and
17 WHEREAS, In determining future locations for federally
18 assisted public housing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the
19 United States Department of Housing and Urban Development should
20 work in collaboration with state and local governments, with
21 input and guidance from individual citizens, organizations and
22 the private sector; and
23 WHEREAS, Government at every level is answerable to the
24 people; and
25 WHEREAS, When public money is used, public accountability
26 shall naturally follow and responsible government and its
27 agencies cannot remove citizens from the processes designed to
28 protect their basic freedoms; and
29 WHEREAS, Communication between government and the people is
30 one of the pillars of our democracy; and
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1 WHEREAS, When this communication dissolves, misunderstanding,
2 mistrust, and frustration is conceived; and
3 WHEREAS, Government must make every effort to establish an
4 impartial framework for citizens and government to participate
5 in meaningful dialogue, while respecting individual rights at
6 all times and in all circumstances, to achieve solutions which
7 reflect the input and respects the rights of all involved
8 parties; therefore be it
9 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
10 memorialize the President and the Congress of the United States
11 to require the United States Department of Housing and Urban
12 Development to work in cooperation with state and local
13 governments when seeking to make affordable housing
14 opportunities available in communities, to require full
15 disclosure and cooperation which includes community
16 participation and to determine that basic services to
17 sufficiently meet the needs of the people are readily available
18 prior to the placement of publicly assisted housing in a
19 community.
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