Join us in taking action to support the development of more affordable housing in Illinois communities. The Senate Executive Committee will hear testimony on numerous bills that support housing access and affordability at 1:30 pm TOMORROW (Thursday, April 23).

This includes SB 4060, which will establish statewide zoning standards to allow for smaller, more affordable single family homes and other “Missing Middle Housing,” e.g., 2-4 flats, townhouses, and ADUs (accessory dwelling units).

Speak up for affordable housing by stating your support of SB 4060 today.

Filing a witness slip online takes less than 3 minutes »

How to File a Witness Slip:

If you are filing as an individual, write “Self” for “Firm/Business or Agency” and “Representation.”
Under the Position section, use the drop down menu for “Add Subject Matter” and select “SB 4060” and then use the “Add Position” drop down menu to select “Proponent.” Double check to make sure you selected the correct options!
Click the “Add Position” button, so that it shows “SB 4060 – Proponent” in the box to the right. If you made a mistake, click on the red “x” and start over.
For Testimony, choose “Record of Appearance Only.”
Agree to the “Terms of Agreement” and click on the “Create (Slip)” button.

More starter homes, townhomes, and three-flats—not McMansions.

Today, many municipalities ban smaller and even mid-sized homes, whether as detached single-family houses, townhomes, or two and three-flats. The result: fewer new homes overall, and the only new housing that’s allowed is the most expensive.

SB 4060, which is part of the BUILD legislative package, ensures that more reasonably priced kinds of homes aren’t banned entirely, while ensuring local control over design standards and health and safety reviews. Minimum standards adapt based on the size of a community’s lots, with single family homes allowed on smaller lots (under 2,500 square feet), four homes allowed on lots up to 5,000 square feet, six up to 7,500 square feet, and eight homes on the largest lots.

These rules encourage small-scale development that provides moderate-cost housing choices for young people, families, and seniors.

The BUILD plan offers common-sense reforms and investments to create more homes and bring down housing costs.

Housing Action Illinois and several of our partners are dedicated to having this legislation move forward; it represents a serious and necessary effort to create statewide alignment on our housing crisis, increase the supply of housing in our communities, and promote affordability. Collectively, the six bills that make up BUILD:

• Create statewide zoning standards to allow for smaller, more affordable single family homes and other “missing middle housing,” e.g., ADUs, 2-4 flats, townhouses, etc.
• Streamline local permitting and approval processes, so that homes can be built faster and at a lower cost.
• Modernize statewide rules on other issues, such as parking and building codes, to make it easier to create new homes.

If you have time, in addition to filing a witness slip in support of SB 4060, we encourage you to also submit a witness slip in support of the other bills in the BUILD package:

• SB 4061: Allow Single Stairway Buildings with Requirements to Ensure Safety
• SB 4062: Standardize Impact Fees Charged by Local Governments
• SB 4063: Allow Third-Party Review and Inspection to Reduce the Amount of Time it Takes to Evaluate Projects
• SB 4064: Reduce Minimum Parking Space Requirements
• SB 4071: Allow Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in Single Family Zones

Learn more about BUILD »

Deadline: All comments must be submitted by April 21, 2026.

Housing Action Illinois is urging organizations across the state to sign on to a letter opposing HUD’s proposed rule that would allow Public Housing Authorities and Project-Based Rental Assistance owners to impose work requirements and time limits on assisted households.

A recent analysis estimates that a two-year time limit could result in 3.3 million people losing rental assistance, including 1.7 million children.

Read the letter and sign on »

Key concerns outlined in the letter include:

• The rule is unnecessary and unlawful: Most non-disabled residents without young children in federally assisted housing are already working, and HUD does not have the legal authority to impose these requirements—only Congress does.
• Housing providers are not equipped to effectively implement work requirements: Successful programs require robust employment services, education and training opportunities, family supports, and clear exemptions. These are resources most providers do not have.
• The rule would increase housing instability and homelessness: Time limits would primarily affect working households whose wages are still too low to afford rent.
• The impact on Illinois would be significant: Increased housing instability would place additional strain on already overburdened emergency rental assistance programs, shelters, and other emergency services.

We’re asking organizations to sign on to our comment letter urging HUD to rescind this harmful rule and instead maintain current policy, which allows mixed-status families to live together in HUD funded housing.

Deadline to sign on: 5:00 pm CT on Thursday, April 30, 2026.

Add your organization’s name by completing this form and clicking submit.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thank you for taking action. 

Not able to sign on for an organization?

Individuals can also submit comments via regulations.gov. HUD must read and account for comments in a published final rule. Find step-by-step instructions on how to submit comments here.

Stay Tuned

Sign up for our Policy Advocacy alerts »

Support our work by donating or becoming a member today »

Housing Action Illinois invites organizations across the state to sign on to a letter opposing HUD’s proposal to put mixed-status families living in HUD-funded housing at risk.

In February, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a proposed rule that targets mixed immigration status families (households with members who are both eligible and ineligible based on immigration status) who receive HUD-funded housing.

Add your organization today »

Currently, federal law and longstanding HUD policy allows for mixed-status families to live under the same roof and receive HUD subsidies for only those members of the family who are eligible based on immigration status. The proposed rule would eliminate this assistance, requiring families to either separate or face potential eviction and housing instability.

Additionally, through the proposed processes, many more people, including U.S. citizens, would have to verify their citizenship by providing specific documentation.

This rule will:

• Affect and potentially harm 198,000 households in Illinois that rely on HUD housing
• Cost Illinois and other states millions of dollars because of the increase of homelessness and administrative burden
• Create additional burdens for affordable housing providers and require the use of money they don’t have to comply
• Particularly affect families, persons with disabilities, older adults, survivors of gender-based violence, and people of color

The proposed rule mandates that all HUD-assisted housing providers require that every applicant, including U.S. Citizens, verify their status through the Department of Homeland Security’s notoriously unreliable SAVE systems, creating additional hurdles for applicants.

We’re asking organizations to sign on to our comment letter urging HUD to rescind this harmful rule and instead maintain current policy, which allows mixed-status families to live together in HUD funded housing.

The deadline to add your organization’s name to our letter is 5:00 pm CT on Monday, April 20, 2026.

We are about halfway through the 2026 Illinois General Assembly session, and Housing Action has made some positive progress in advancing key priorities from our 2026 Policy Agenda. We will keep advocating with our members and allies to move our full legislative agenda forward before the session ends on May 31.

Work on the state budget always increases during the second half of the legislative session. We are focused on reversing proposed cuts to homeless services into budget increases and advocating for progressive revenue increases needed to ensure that Illinois can meet basic human needs, especially as federal funding remains under attack.

At the same time, at the federal level, we are actively engaging with our Illinois Congressional delegation and coordinating with our national partners to protect federal funding, oppose harmful policy proposals, and pursue opportunities for positive policy change.

Thank you to everyone who has supported Housing Action Illinois’ advocacy initiatives so far this year. 

State Advocacy Update

Bills Passed Out of Committee

We’re pleased to share that three bills we are helping lead advocacy on have passed committee: 

Preventing and ending homelessness:

• HB 1429: Stop Criminalizing Homelessness (Chief Sponsor: Representative Kevin Olickal) protects people from being fined or penalized for basic survival activities, such as trying to stay warm, resting, and eating. View our fact sheet.

Protecting Tenants:

• HB 4377: Protect Tenants in Public Housing and Other Federally Subsidized Rental Housing from Time Limits and Work Requirements (Chief Sponsor: Representative Maurice West) preempts a Trump administration proposal to allow Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) and owners of project-based Section 8 housing to establish work requirements and time limits. View our fact sheet.
• HB 5234: “Trailer Bill” Changing the Effective Date of HB 3564 to Ensure Passage of the “End Rental Junk Fees: Rental Affordability and Fee Transparency Act” (Chief Sponsor: Representative Nabeela Syed) addresses the mounting move-in fees and non-optional junk fees that renters are facing. View our HB 3564 fact sheet. (Update: The RAFTA legislation passed a final concurrence vote in the House and is now awaiting the Governor’s signature.)

Additional bills we support that have also passed committee:

• HB 3526: Support Manufactured Home Residents by Limiting Rent Increases (Chief Sponsor: Representative Abdelnasser Rashid) – Fact Sheet
• HB 5198: Strengthen the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act (Chief Sponsor: Representative Tracy Katz Muhl) – Fact Sheet
• HB 5424: Renew and Amend Comprehensive Housing Planning Act (Chief Sponsor: Representative Curtis Tarver) – More information
• HB 5394: End Credit Score Discrimination Against Voucher Holders (Chief Sponsor: Representative Kevin Olickal) – Fact Sheet

Bills We Are Working to Advance

Often, bills don’t move until later in the General Assembly session. We are continuing to push for movement on the below.

Preventing homeowner displacement:

• SB 3940: Tyler v. Hennepin Reform that Works for Property Owners, Taxing Districts and Taxpayers (Chief Sponsor: Senator Celina Villanueva). This bill is intended to help homeowners pay delinquent property taxes and maintain equity if they lose their homes due to unpaid property taxes. This would also bring Illinois state law into compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Tyler v. Hennepin. View our fact sheet.

Read recent press coverage from Injustice Watch and the Investigative Project on Race and Equity: Steps Illinois lawmakers could take to reform the state’s tax sale laws

Protecting tenants:

• SB 2264: Regulation of the use of so-called “crime free housing and nuisance ordinances” (Chief Sponsor: Senator Karina Villa). This bill regulates the use of so-called “crime-free housing and nuisance ordinances.” These laws can force landlords to evict tenants because of 911 calls or other alleged “nuisance” activity. This punishes renters for calling for help and puts survivors of domestic violence, as well as people with disabilities, at risk.  View our fact sheet.

We also continue to urge passage of Governor Pritzker’s BUILD package to increase the supply of “missing middle” housing and promote greater affordability and choice in the housing market.

We are also supportive of SB 3169, sponsored by Senator Graciela Guzmán, being advocated for by a coalition of Community Land Trusts to create more resources and tools for CLTs to create permanently affordable homes for owners. (Fact Sheet).

State Budget Focus During Final Weeks of Session

At the start of 2026, we anticipated advocating for modest budget increases for programs to prevent and end homelessness, given state budget challenges on the horizon such as loss of federal health care and food assistance funding.

However, new federal policy threats—particularly harmful and counterproductive policy proposals regarding the Continuum of Care Program—have made significant increased state investment in Permanent Supportive Housing even more urgent.

This made it all the more dismaying to see the cut the HOME Illinois Program (a $10 million reduction, down to a total of $253.7 million) and a supportive housing line item (a $1.4 million reduction to the Supportive MI Housing line item, down to total of $21,313,800) in Governor Pritzker’s FY 2027 budget proposal.

During the rest of the General Assembly session, we will continue advocating for funding increases instead of cuts. See the fact sheet on on appropriations legislation. Our Chief Sponsors are Seantor Adriane Johnson (SB 2969) and Represenative Lindsey LaPointe (HB 4568).

We will also work with partners such as the Illinois Revenue Alliance to make sure the final budget package includes progressive revenue increases, including a “Billionaire Wealth Tax” on asset appreciation, ensuring extreme wealth growth is taxed just like wages and raising an estimated $916 million in FY27.

The General Assembly will pass a budget by the end of may, and we are still speaking with legislators the critical need to increase overall funding each year, particularly for emergency shelters, which serve people with absolutely no place else to go.

Federal Advocacy Update

We continue to work closely with national partners and Illinois’ Congressional delegation to oppose budget cuts and policies that weaken the federal role in meeting housing needs. 

Federal Budget Rejects Deep Cuts

Our collective advocacy resulted in a final FY26 federal budget that largely rejects the massive budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration. The FY26 budget bill also contained provisions directing HUD to renew FY25 Continuum of Care contracts for homeless service providers, an important outcome, although implementation has been slow. Find out more from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Looking ahead, President Trump will release a FY27 budget proposal soon, and we are prepared to oppose new threats to critical policies and programs.

Collective Action in Response to Policy Threats

We are actively opposing multiple proposed rules from HUD, including:

• Weakening the disparate impact standard for fair housing, a key issue in our work to continue addressing housing discrimination 
• Threatening the legal rights of mixed immigration status households to federal housing assistance
• Reducing eviction protections for HUD-assisted households
• Allowing counterproductive time limits and work requirements for public housing residents and other tenants in federally subsidized housing 

Housing Action submitted comments on the disparate impact proposal through a letter we drafted that was signed by 53 organizations. We also worked with Representative Nikki Budiuzski who with 12 of her fellow members from Illinois sent a letter to HUD. The  proposed rule would rescind the existing regulation that should be better used to address facially neutral practices—such as redlining, exclusionary zoning, and discriminatory infrastructure and siting decisions—that produce lasting and measurable disparities.

Additional harmful proposals, particularly regarding allowable uses of funding, could affect  nonprofits implementing the Continuum of Care Program, fair housing programs, and the Housing Counseling Program. Some of these policy changes remain the subject of litigation. Other proposed changes could impact the entire nonprofit sector, such as a proposal requiring applicants or recipients of federal grants to sign vague and overly broad certifications under the threat of civil and criminal penalties. 

The requirements are intended to align with an executive order from President Trump and guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice. Together, these policies would ban support for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) programs and could require organizations that receive federal funding to take on roles related to immigration enforcement and anti-terrorism compliance. More than 1,300 organizations, including Housing Action Illinois, have signed a letter from the National Council of Nonprofits opposing this change.

As we finalized this update, we are glad to report that there have been two positive court decisions related to Continuum of Care (CoC) program: 

• On March 31, the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island ruled HUDs implementation of the CoC Builds NOFO was in violation of federal law.
• On April 1, the First Circuit Appeal Court rejected HUD’s request to overturn a lower court’s temporary injunction against HUD’s planned changes to the CoC Program through the FY25 funding competition.

In the coming days, we will circulate a sign-on letter to oppose HUD’s proposed rule on barring mixed immigration status households from federally subsidized housing, an unnecessary proposal that is contrary to statutory language and against our values. It will also cost Illinois and the nation millions of dollars in costs due to increased homelessness and administrative burdens.

Building Support in Congress

Whatever good work we have been able to accomplish at the federal level is made possible by strong relationships with members of our Illinois Congressional delegation, including with Senator Dick Durbin and Representative Mike Quigley, both members of the subcommittees that determine and have oversight of the HUD budget.

Recent movement on the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” demonstrates bipartisan support and momentum for affordable housing solutions. We urge the House to take up the bill and pass it as soon as possible.

Speak Up With Us

There are many ways to support our work—from contacting your elected officials to filling out a witness slip for a committee hearing at the State Capitol to endorsing one of our campaigns. Visit our recently launched Action Center to get involved.  

If you have any questions or want to join specific campaign efforts, please contact our Housing Policy Organizer Foluke Akanni.

Support our work by donating or becoming a member today »

Deadline: All comments must be submitted by April 21, 2026.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has proposed yet another policy that will destabilize immigrant families, putting Illinois seniors and children in particular at risk.

In February, HUD published a proposed rule that targets mixed immigration status families (households with members who are both eligible and ineligible based on immigration status) who receive HUD-funded housing. Overall, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) estimated these changes could cause 80,000 people nationwide to lose their rental assistance, including 37,000 children.

Currently, federal law and longstanding HUD policy allow for mixed-status families to live under the same roof and receive HUD subsidies for only those members of the family who are eligible based on immigration status. The proposed rule would eliminate this assistance, requiring families to either separate or face potential eviction and housing instability.

Additionally, through the proposed processes, many more people, including U.S. citizens, would have to verify their citizenship by providing specific documentation. The CBPP reports that approximately 3.8 million US citizens lack proof of citizenship and 17.5 million cannot easily access those documents—putting many more people at risk of losing their housing because they cannot meet the high burden of the proposed rule.

How you can help:

File a public comment opposing this cruel rule.

In collaboration with the Keep Families Together campaign, Housing Action is mobilizing people to oppose this proposed rule and keep families together, safe, and housed. Take just 5 minutes and join us:

1. Visit regulations.gov to file a public comment.
2. Draft your comment; feel free to customize one of the Keep Families Together examples. Fill out the complete form and hit submit.
3. Let the campaign know you submitted a comment.

All comments must be submitted by April 21, 2026.

Your voice makes a difference. In 2019, we mobilized our collective voice to tell HUD and the Trump Administration that we opposed a similar cruel rule. It worked; the rule was never adopted. Now we need to create a new flood of comments and refuse to allow this rule from being adopted.

Thank you for helping keep families together.

Stay Tuned

Sign up for our Policy Advocacy alerts »

Support our work by donating or becoming a member today »

For Immediate Release: March 5, 2026
Contact: Kristin Ginger, Director of Communications & Development, Housing Action Illinois, kristin@housingactionil.org or 312-854-3333

CHICAGO, IL – A new report by Housing Action Illinois and the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes, finds a national shortage of 7.2 million affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income renter households—and only 34 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 of these households in Illinois.

These findings come amidst multiple proposed rules from the Trump administration that will make it more challenging to promote access to federally subsidized rental homes.

“We need federal policies that increase the availability and access to affordable housing, not attempt to take it away or make it more difficult to qualify for,” said Bob Palmer, Policy Director for Housing Action Illinois.

These harmful rules include:

• Allowing Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) and owners of project-based rental Section 8 assistance to implement time limits and work requirements. The proposal ignores that federal programs are necessary because of the high cost of housing in the private market, not because people aren’t already working or don’t want to work if they are able. More than half of non-disabled, working-age Illinois households receiving federal rental assistance include at least one worker.
• Changing federal law and ending long-standing federal policy by prohibiting families with mixed immigration status from receiving housing assistance and creating burdensome citizenship documentation requirements for U.S. citizens. Contrary to HUD’s false claims, people who are undocumented do not receive housing subsidies under current policy. If the eligible individual is part of a mixed status family, the family receives prorated housing assistance only for the eligible individual. These families therefore pay a higher amount of rent than other households.
• Eliminating the requirement that PHAs and property owners receiving HUD funding to provide 30-day written notice for nonpayment of rent prior to eviction. Without the protection of the 30-day notice rule, HUD tenants in Illinois could be evicted with only 5 days notice to pay what is owed.

“Without the 30-day notice rule, the tenants we serve in Illinois will be at much higher risk of losing their housing due to rent that they don’t even owe. HUD multifamily housing owners make ledger errors and miscalculate balances that families need time to resolve,” said Noah Moskowitz, Organizing Director for the Jane Addams Senior Caucus. “By rescinding this rule, HUD is forcing our families through an impossible five-day timeline to address administrative errors, pay the erroneous charges, or face homelessness.”

The report finds that 439,933 extremely low-income renter households live in Illinois, but only 150,317 affordable rental homes are available to them—leaving a staggering shortage of 289,616 affordable rental homes. Extremely low-income households have annual incomes at or below 30% of their area median income (AMI). As a result, 74% of extremely low-income renters in Illinois are severely housing cost-burdened, spending more than 50% of their income on housing, with little left over for food, healthcare, and other basic necessities.

The picture is even worse in the Chicago metro area, where only 31 affordable and available homes exist per every 100 extremely low-income renters.

Even for those with a slightly larger household budget, there are not nearly enough options available; in Illinois, there are only 63 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 very low income households in Illinois. Very low income households have annual incomes of 50% or below AMI.

The private market alone cannot provide an adequate supply of housing affordable, especially for the lowest-income renters. Investments are needed to produce new affordable housing, preserve existing affordable housing, and subsidize the difference between what the lowest-income renters can afford to pay and market rents.

Released annually, The Gap investigates the affordability and availability of rental homes for households of different income levels nationwide and in every state and major metropolitan area. For the full report, visit: https://nlihc.org/gap

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About Housing Action Illinois

Housing Action Illinois has been leading the movement to end homelessness, address the shortage of affordable rental housing, and expand homeownership opportunities in Illinois for nearly 40 years. With our 200+ member organizations, we bring everyone together to work toward our vision of an Illinois where everyone has a stable, good home.

For Immediate Release: February 19, 2026
Contact: Kristin Ginger, Director of Communications & Development, Housing Action Illinois, kristin@housingactionil.org or 312-854-3333

Housing affordability and supply are not isolated local concerns. They are statewide economic and civic challenges that require coordinated action. Across Illinois, people and communities are grappling with rising housing costs, constrained inventory, and regulatory frameworks that can slow or discourage new development. These pressures hinder our workforce growth, household stability, municipal capacity, and long-term economic competitiveness. These are not problems that can be solved on a community-by-community basis, and require clear expectations and standards across the state.

We appreciate Governor Pritzker and state lawmakers for helping jumpstart an important statewide conversation about housing priorities and investments. Their engagement has elevated the urgency of the issue and opened the door to practical solutions that can strengthen Illinois communities while supporting working families seeking stable, affordable housing options.

The Building Up Illinois Developments (BUILD) legislative package represents a serious and necessary effort to create statewide alignment on our housing crisis. Establishing baseline statewide standards, enabling accessory dwelling units, setting reasonable parking requirements, and improving review timelines can help reduce unnecessary costs and delays while maintaining adequate local oversight and control. These types of reforms make it more feasible to produce housing that working Illinoisans can afford and that Illinois communities need to ensure the future economic vitality and competitiveness of our state.

Equally important, pairing regulatory improvements with targeted financial resources is critical. Strategic investments in proven financing and funding mechanisms — including capital support for housing production, assistance for first-time homebuyers, and infrastructure resources that unlock stalled projects — can help ensure policy changes translate into real housing opportunities across diverse communities.

No single proposal will fully resolve Illinois’ housing challenges, but continued collaboration and thoughtful investment can make meaningful progress. Some local communities have embraced proactive policies to increase housing supply, but nowhere near enough. This General Assembly session, the state legislature needs to advance policies and targeted funding that expand affordable housing supply, strengthen stability for tenants and homeowners, and support sustainable growth statewide. We urge the Illinois General Assembly to advance this legislation and continue strengthening Illinois’ capacity to deliver stable housing for households across the state.

Abundant Housing Illinois
Elevated Chicago
Housing Action Illinois
Illinois Housing Council
Impact for Equity
Metropolitan Planning Council
YIMBY Illinois

Deadline: 4:00 pm CT on Friday, February 13, 2026

Housing Action Illinois invites organizations across the state to sign on to a letter opposing HUD’s proposal to eliminate its Fair Housing Act disparate impact regulations.

HUD’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, published January 14, would eliminate critical enforcement regulations that help identify and address housing discrimination that is not be overt, but still causes harm, particularly to communities of color, people with disabilities, and families with children.

The Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, familial status, and religion.

There are different types of discrimination, including intentional discrimination (e.g., a landlord refuses to rent to a family because the household includes young children) and discrimination that has a disparate impact based on a protected characteristic such as race or sex (e.g., a local ordinance has an unjustified disproportionate effect on Black residents but does not explicitly mention race).

While intentional discrimination is often easier to uncover, disparate impact helps identify discriminatory practices that are facially neutral. Discriminatory housing policies are not always overt; thus, disparate impact is an important tool to enforce fair housing protections.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in 2015 that the FHA allows for disparate impact claims. HUD rescinding the current disparate impact regulations cannot change the underlying law. However, HUD’s existing regulations promote a consistent understanding of how to analyze disparate impact claims and are worth keeping.

We urge HUD to fully enforce the Fair Housing Act, including through the use of disparate impact.

The deadline to add your organization’s name to our letter is 4:00 pm CT on Friday, February 13, 2026.

Please join us: add your organization to the letter »

Stay Tuned

Sign up for our Policy Advocacy alerts »

Support our work by donating or becoming a member today »

For nearly forty years, Housing Action Illinois has led the movement to expand affordable housing and end homelessness across our state. Our year-round collaboration with other advocates, our members and allies, direct service providers, and people with lived experience of housing instability informs this annual policy agenda, which serves as a roadmap for our advocacy work.

Our 2026 Policy Agenda includes a variety of federal and state level initiatives focused on:

• Protecting federal housing programs »
• Ending homelessness »
• Expanding affordable rental housing & protecting renters »
• Promoting sustainable homeownership »

If you’re interested in a summarized agenda, you can view a PDF one pager here »

View our 2026 Mid-Session Legislative Update »

The Problems We Face Today

As 2026 begins, we recognize that the landscape in which we’ve been working has changed drastically. Still, we are facing a situation long in the making: the culmination of many years of under-investment in affordable housing, stagnant wages, rising rents, and systemic discrimination. The supply of affordable homes is simply not enough to meet our communities’ needs.

As federal policy decisions have exacerbated the increase in costs for basic needs such as housing, health care, and food, the term and issue of “affordability”—though not new—has caught on in the public discourse and gained fresh urgency.

While people facing housing instability all have their own unique challenges, they share one thing in common: the need for a stable, affordable home that can serve as a foundation for their lives. We continue to make sure public resources and policies relate to housing as a basic human need and a human right.

For all the issues we work on, we can point to data and other evidence that systemic inequities and discrimination worsen these problems and disproportionately impact people based on race, ethnicity, disability, gender, age and other factors. All of our campaigns we work on have a racial and/or economic justice component.

Advancing Solutions

This agenda focuses on investments and policy changes that will bring us closer to an Illinois where everyone has a stable, affordable place to call home. Housing Action prioritizes systemic change that will end homelessness, expand affordable rental housing, and build sustainable homeownership in all Illinois communities.

We support proven strategies—such as Housing First programs, tenant protections, fair housing enforcement, housing counseling, and homelessness prevention—while aiming to address root causes. Our emphasis is on policies that will stabilize households, preserve existing affordable housing, prevent displacement, and create pathways to long-term housing security and homeownership.

In the past year, we have faced tumultuous challenges at the federal level, and in 2026, we will continue to ramp up our federal advocacy in response. At the same time, we will advocate for key state legislation that protects people, communities, and programs that work.

There are many ways to get involved; you can support this work by:

• Sharing this agenda
• Visiting our newly launched Action Center to join campaigns, endorse bills, contact legislators, and more
• Becoming a member
• Making a donation

Whatever action you take, we hope you will join us.

2026 Federal Policy Agenda

Advocating for People Who Need Housing and Protecting the Federal Programs that Serve Them

In 2025, the Trump Administration significantly reduced HUD’s workforce and proposed eliminating many programs entirely, as well as recommending cutting the HUD budget in half. As we enter 2026, essential, evidence-based programs that have been historically under-funded are facing intensified threats.

We are advocating for the highest possible funding level for the HUD budget, overall. Specific programs and resources at stake, which we are mobilizing to defend, include:

• Housing First programs to end homelessness. More than $182 million in current Continuum of Care funding is at risk; these resources support permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing and other critical programs across Illinois.
• Fair housing education and enforcement. These programs protect people from housing discrimination and ensure the freedom to live in the community of one’s choice.
• Housing counseling programs. These provide unbiased, expert guidance to help individuals and families achieve financial stability, become homeowners or renters, and navigate challenges such as eviction or foreclosure.
• Housing Choice Vouchers, which make it possible for nearly 100,000 households in Illinois to afford the rent and lift families with children, people with disabilities, seniors and others out of poverty.

We know that other challenges and needs will arise during the year, and we will be prepared to respond and defend other programs and policies as needed.

2026 Illinois General Assembly Agenda

Preventing & Ending Homelessness

Protect & Increase Funding for the State Plan to End Homelessness

Chief Sponsors: Seantor Adriane Johnson (SB 2969) and Represenative Lindsey LaPointe (HB 4568)

We need continued annual state investments in homelessness programs to address current threats to federal funding and to fully implement HOME Illinois, the state’s plan to prevent and end homelessness. While the state is facing its own budget challenges, we cannot stop investing in programs that serve our most vulnerable residents, people who have no place to call home.

Shelters and outreach programs continue to be overstretched and underfunded, hourly wage workers and families are sleeping in cars, and punitive local responses—such as ticketing and fining people who are unsheltered for sleeping in parks or in their cars, or for resting on park benches—are on the rise.

For some programs under HOME Illinois, we are urging Governor Pritzker to support modest funding increases, totaling $28.5 million, to advance the state’s plan to prevent and end homelessness. We are also advocating for an additional significant increase for Permanent Supportive Housing to help offset potential losses in federal funding. We request:

• $14 million increase for the Emergency and Transitional Housing (ETH) program to fund approximately 700 new shelter beds. This investment addresses part of the 5,379 shelter beds identified as needed in the HOME Illinois plan and is especially critical as more municipalities pass ordinances that outlaw encampments and criminalize homelessness.
• $7.5 million increase across three line items funding Supportive Housing Services. Investments in essential case management services have not kept pace with the expansion of new supportive housing units. Our request will support supportive housing services and provide the necessary services to keep permanent supportive housing residents safe and stably housed.
• $5 million in additional funding for the Homeless Prevention Program to serve approximately 1,350 additional households.
• $2 million in funding for the Homeless Youth Program to help providers expand shelter capacity and case management services for youth experiencing homelessness.
• Additional funding, up to $60 million, for Scattered Site Permanent Supportive Housing to make up for federal funding that is still at risk of being lost due to proposed policy changes to the federal Continuum of Care program.

Funding these increases will help build on previous investments and help to continue sustained efforts to reach functional zero homelessness in our communities.

Our state budget request is subject to an increase based on what happens with federal funding for the Continuum of Care Program. We also realize that the State of Illinois needs additional progressive revenue to adequately fund these and other priorities (see more information on that below).

See fact sheet »

For more information, contact: foluke@housingactionil.org

Partners: Homeless service providers throughout the state, Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, Illinois Shelter Alliance, Supportive Housing Providers Association

Expanding & Preserving Affordable Rental Housing

Pass the Community Safety Through Stable Homes Act

Chief Sponsors: Senator Karina Villa (SB 2264) and Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz

This bill prevents discrimination and protects renters from being unfairly forced from their homes due to so-called “crime-free housing and nuisance ordinances” (CFNOs). These ordinances discourage people from calling 911, disproportionately harm survivors of domestic violence and people with mental health issues, and destabilize households. This legislation will help people contact police without fear and focus on better responses to crime while also keeping individuals and families in their homes.

This legislation builds on five years of organizing and advocacy to challenge local CFNOs across Illinois.

See press coverage regarding introduction of our 2024 legislation on this issue and subsequent coverage about a case challenging a local CFNO »
Read national New York Times press coverage »
See fact sheet »
Learn more & endorse »
For more information, contact: bob@housingactionil.org

Partners include: Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Open Communities, The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence

Stop Criminalizing People Experiencing Homelessness

Chief Sponsor: Representative Kevin Olickal (HB 1429)

We will continue to work on HB 1429, to stop the increasing criminalization of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness by local governments in Illinois. We will also advocate that local governments partner on constructive solutions to ensure that everyone has a safe affordable place to call home, such as increasing street outreach and access to shelter.

This bill protects people from being fined or penalized for basic survival activities, such as trying to stay warm, resting, and eating. In response to a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Johnson v. Grants Pass, we are aware of more than 30 local municipalities that have adopted ordinances criminalizing homelessness.

See fact sheet »

See press coverage »
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For more information, contact: foluke@housingactionil.org

Partners include: Homeless service providers from throughout the state, Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness

Pass the Rental Affordability and Fee Transparency Act

Chief Sponsors: Representative Nabeela Syed and Senator Mike Simmons (HB 3564)

This bill addresses the mounting move-in fees and non-optional junk fees that renters are facing. Fees that have typically been included in the price of rent are now being tacked on, making price shopping for leases difficult and leading to surprise fees for renters. This legislation requires that landlords place all non-optional fees on the first page of the rental agreement, and prohibits 11 different junk fees that are simply unnecessary. The legislation works to ensure that fees are fair and transparent.

See fact sheet »
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To get involved, contact: bob@housingactionil.org

Partners include: Law Center for Better Housing, New Moms, Supportive Housing Providers Association

Protect Tenants in Federal Subsidized Housing

Chief Sponsors: Senator Ram Villivalam (SB 3084) and Representative Maurice West (HB 4377)

This legislation preempts a Trump administration proposal to allow Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) and owners of project-based Section 8 housing to establish work requirements and time limits. The bill will prohibit these policies that could result in people losing their housing, unless required by federal law. Decades of research show these policies are ineffective and costly, as well as difficult to administer. Voluntary programs to help people increase their incomes and improve their job skills are far more effective and will remain permissible under this bill.

See fact sheet »
For more information, contact: bob@housingactionil.org

Partners include: Impact for Equity

Preserve Affordable Homeownership

Support Homeowner and Community Interests in Property Tax Sale Reforms

Chief Sponsor: Senator Celina Villanueva (SB 3940)

In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Tyler v. Hennepin decision, we are advocating for property tax sale reforms that protect homeowners’ equity and prevent unnecessary displacement. Under Illinois’ current tax sale system, people can lose their homes and all accumulated equity over relatively small tax debts. We support a solution that would require competitive auction of the property and return the most money to the person who lost their home.

This is a matter of racial justice as well as housing justice; our 2021 research found that the vast majority of tax sale evictions by the Cook County Sheriff occur in majority-Black communities.

This legislation we are pursuing also includes provisions to prevent homeowners from becoming delinquent on their property taxes in the first place and making it more affordable to redeem past due property taxes.

See fact sheet »

See press coverage »
Learn more about the Tyler v. Hennepin case and reform options for Illinois »
For more information, contact: bob@housingactionil.org

Partners include: Chicago Community Trust, Cook County President’s Office, Cook County Treasurer’s Office and Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago

Increase Resources for Senior Home Repair: Fix Our Homes Illinois

Chief Sponsor: Representative Kevin Olickal (HB 5169 and HB 5170)

We are members of Fix Our Homes Illinois, a broad-based coalition dedicated to ensuring that Illinois provides low-income older homeowners the resources they need to age safely, comfortably, and affordably at home. The coalition is advocating for HB 5170, The Senior Home Preservation Program Act, creating a program provide eligible low-income older homeowners with up to $40,000 worth of basic home repairs by qualified home repair specialists at little to no cost to the homeowner. The accompanying appropriations bill (HB 5169) requests $22 million over three years.

See press coverage »
See fact sheet »
Learn more & endorse »
For more information, contact: foluke@housingactionil.org

Partners include: H.O.M.E.

Even More Priorities

We continue to partner with others on a variety of equally important issues; stay tuned for more information about efforts to advance these and other campaigns:

• Progressive Revenue: As a member of the Illinois Revenue Alliance and Responsible Budget Coalition, we advocate for progressive and equitable revenue streams for the State of Illinois to better fund programs that are essential to basic human needs and help individuals and families thrive. At a time when federal budget cuts to health care, food assistance and more are making it more challenging for the residents of our state, there needs to be a greater focus generating revenue to fund our short and long-term needs. This will require people and corporations with the highest incomes to do a bit more to satisfy the moral imperative of supporting Illinois’ lowest-income households and communities.
  • Worldwide Combined Reporting (HB 5318/SB3486) (West/Martwick): This ensures that multinational corporations cannot shift assets to avoid Illinois tax. This could contribute to $1.2 bill in revenue annually.
  • Billionaire Tax (HB 5215/SB 3376) (Mah/Villa): Taxes the asset growth of billionaires to ensure they’re paying their fair share, just like low and middle income residents do. This could bring in $916 million in revenue annually.
  • Digital Advertising Tax (HB 4894/SB 3353) (N. Hernandez/Peters): A tax on the largest companies’ digital advertisements. Estimated to bring in $1.1 billion annually.
  • Decoupling from Federal Tax Giveaways (HB 5125/SB 3796) (LaPointe/Collins): Disentangling corporate loopholes in Illinois from federal tax code, with the potential to bring in approximately $710 million annually to Illinoisans.
• Federal and IL CRA: We co-lead the IL CRA Coalition, a group of organizations dedicated to protecting and strengthening the federal and the Illinois Community Reinvestment Acts as tools for building more equitable communities and addressing the racial wealth gap. In 2026, we will continue our outreach and education for community based organizations and other stakeholders about the IL CRA, monitor the state exam process as it ramps up, and be prepared to comment on any proposed federal rule changes should they be released this year.

Other issues we’ll be supporting in 2026 include strengthening Community Land Trusts, the State of Illinois’ Annual Comprehensive Housing Plan, and various measures to increase the supply of housing. 

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In a letter to Secretary Scott Turner, advocates outline importance of maintaining funding for housing programs

For Immediate Release: November 14, 2025
Contact: Kristin Ginger, Director of Communications & Development, Housing Action Illinois (kristin@housingactionil.org) and Emily Moen, Chief Communications Officer Director, Thresholds (emily.moen@thresholds.org)

CHICAGO, Ill. — Yesterday, nearly 300 groups from across Illinois sent a letter to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner urging the Department to renew existing grants in order to prevent a harmful gap in funding of housing and services for people who have experienced homelessness. Signatories include a diverse cross-section of stakeholders comprised of housing providers and advocates, health and disability rights groups as well as faith-based organizations and others.

The letter, led by Thresholds and Housing Action Illinois, responds to reports that HUD would issue a new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for Continuum of Care (CoC) awards — instead of renewing existing grants for another year. The NOFO for fiscal year 2025 was not released until the evening of November 13, even though the fiscal year ended on September 30. The deadline to apply is January 14, 2026. 

Existing awards have various end dates in 2026. Some will begin to expire as soon as the end of January next year, creating a funding gap that will threaten the ability of agencies to continue providing housing and services.

Based on the 2024 HUD Point in Time Count, on any given night, nearly 26,000 Illinoisans are experiencing homelessness. This includes more than 7,200 children, over 2,800 survivors of domestic violence, nearly 700 seniors, and more than 550 veterans. Because of the lack of affordable housing — the root cause of homelessness — even more people are doubled up or otherwise do not have a home of their own.

“Existing federal grants start to expire early in 2026. At this late date, there is no way the federal government can undertake a brand-new funding competition without causing a monthslong gap between the end of many existing awards and the beginning of new funding,” said Bob Palmer, Policy Director for Housing Action Illinois.

For several weeks, there have been reports that the NOFO would be a vehicle for fast-tracking a dramatic restructuring of the program, including a 30% cap on the funds that can be used for Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) and other permanent housing, which is in the released NOFO. Currently, more than 80% of federal CoC funding in Illinois is used for these purposes—an evidence-backed, market-based approach to ending homelessness that also generates economic activity in the form of rent to property owners and on-site services. 

“Rather than making drastic changes to the CoC program with no input from stakeholders or Congress, we urge HUD to renew existing grants for one more year as authorized by Congress to prevent a devastating gap. This will keep our community members safely, stably housed, and avoid pushing them back into homelessness,” said Mark Ishaug, President and CEO of Thresholds, one of the state’s largest providers of permanent supportive housing. 

The CoC Program has longstanding bipartisan support. Illinois’ 19 CoC networks provide the foundation for local efforts to prevent and end homelessness, currently supporting more than 21,400 people maintaining permanent housing across the state, as well as more than 27,000 emergency and transitional beds. Across Illinois, federal CoC funding currently supports more than 330 CoC grants, totaling approximately $182.5 million, to nonprofit and local government agencies. 

The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that 60% of all permanent supportive housing in Illinois is federally funded, although in many downstate and rural communities, the percentage is much higher.

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About Housing Action Illinois

Housing Action Illinois has been leading the movement to end homelessness, address the shortage of affordable rental housing, and expand homeownership opportunities in Illinois for nearly 40 years. With our 200+ member organizations, we bring everyone together to work toward our vision of an Illinois where everyone has a stable, good home.

About Thresholds

Founded in 1959, Thresholds provides healthcare, housing, and hope for thousands of persons with mental illnesses and substance use conditions in Illinois each year. Through care, employment, advocacy, and housing, Thresholds assists and inspires people with mental illnesses to reclaim their lives. Learn more about Thresholds at thresholds.org.