Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Progressives on Capitol Hill believe they have the answer to one of the most vexing policy challenges facing America: another “Green New Deal,” this time centering on housing.<\/p>\n
Today, a group of lawmakers led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will gather to relaunch a so-called \u201cGreen New Deal for Public Housing<\/a>.\u201d The goal of the legislation, Ocasio-Cortez told POLITICO in an exclusive interview, is to \u201creimagine and reinvigorate public housing in the United States,\u201d while addressing \u201cmany of the environmental injustices that public housing residents have faced.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s the latest sign that Democrats across the ideological spectrum are zeroing in on housing as an under-addressed issue that could carry a huge upside politically. It comes on the heels of President Joe Biden\u2019s State of the Union address in which he outlined a plan to lower housing costs that he\u2019s now taking on the road.<\/p>\n But where Biden is addressing housing in general \u2014 the goal of homeownership has long been a centerpiece of the American dream, albeit one currently unattainable for many Americans \u2014 the progressives are zeroing in on public housing in particular.<\/p>\n Ocasio-Cortez sees this as a moment in which those old ways of thinking are becoming \u201cunsustainable\u201d and out of touch with the realities of modern life.<\/p>\n \u201cFor a long time, we could pass a tax incentive here or there and say, \u2018Hey, we’ve got a great housing policy,\u2019\u201d Ocasio-Cortez told POLITICO. \u201cAnd everyday people \u2026 were supportive because there was still that dream and that idea that \u2018I’m going to be buying a home soon \u2026 that’s within the horizon for me.\u2019 Right now, we have an entire generation \u2014 that is ascending into becoming the most powerful electorate, the largest electorate \u2014 for which that is decades away.\u201d<\/p>\n