Policy Advocacy
Many voices are stronger than one.
We mobilize our members and allies to advocate for policies that help end homelessness, create affordable rental housing, promote sustainable homeownership, and affirmatively further fair housing. We work to increase federal, state, and local investments in proven housing programs, as well as to develop new and innovative policy solutions. On our own and through coalition work, we have been able to secure a multitude of policy victories in Springfield and Washington, D.C., that benefit renters and homeowners.
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Action Center
With your help, we can expand access to affordable housing, prevent and end homelessness, and create an Illinois where everyone has good, stable homes.
2026 Policy Agenda
Our annual policy agenda serves as a roadmap for our state & federal advocacy to ensure every Illinoisan has a stable place to call home.
Previous Legislative Summaries
- 2025 Illinois General Assembly Wrap-Up
- 2024 Illinois General Assembly Wrap-Up
- 2023 Illinois General Assembly Wrap-Up
- 2022 Illinois General Assembly Wrap-Up
- January 2022 Lame Duck Session Wrap-Up
- 2021 Illinois General Assembly Wrap-Up
- January 2021 Lame Duck Session Wrap-Up
- 2020 Illinois General Assembly Wrap-Up
- 2019 Illinois General Assembly Wrap-Up
- 2018 Illinois General Assembly Wrap-Up
- 2017 Illinois General Assembly Wrap-Up
Louder Together: Multi-Sector Partnerships
To truly change our affordable housing ecosystem for the better, we need to bring together not just housing advocates but also people, organizations, and interest groups from beyond the housing field. This is why Housing Action Illinois has joined the national Opportunity Starts at Home campaign, a project of our allies at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and why we are working with advocates in pediatric health care, refugee resettlement, and the disability rights sector to raise up affordable housing as an issue that matters to all of us.
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Join our action network to stay informed and urge your elected officials to support renters and homeowners.
Learn More
Dig into our publications, which share research and analysis on issues related to affordable housing.
Latest Policy & Organizing News
Our Chicago: Community Summit to Reflect on 50 Years of the Fair Housing Act
Leah Demarest and Rachel Schwartz are AmeriCorps VISTAs at John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Clinic and Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, respectively. April 2018 marks 50 years since the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act. In...
Congress Should Consider the Gap in Affordable Rental Homes for the Poorest Households as They Finalize This Year’s Federal Budget
The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes, a new report released today by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and Housing Action Illinois, finds a severe shortage of affordable rental homes for the extremely low-income (ELI) renter households across the...
Report: Eviction Filings Are Barrier to Finding Future Housing—Even for Tenants Who Are Not Evicted
39% of eviction filings do not lead to a judgment against the tenant, but these tenants still get rejected when applying to rent CHICAGO—A new report by Housing Action Illinois and the Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing (LCBH) explores how an...