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
Report: Affordable Rents are Out of Reach for Minimum Wage Workers in Illinois; $225 Million in State Funding that Would Help Awaits Governor’s Signature
Renters must earn $19.98 to afford a two-bedroom apartment in IL, while nearly $225 million in emergency state funding for affordable housing is being held up to due to state budget impasse For Immediate Release: May 25, 2016For more information contact: Kristin...
General Assembly and Governor Rauner Must Identify Revenue Solutions and Pass Responsible Budget by May 31
The scheduled end of the current Illinois General Assembly session is May 31. Unless your state legislators and Governor Rauner hear from you, this will be the second year in a row that the session ends without passing a budget that has adequate revenue to fund state...
May 4 Update: Tell Your State Legislators to Vote Yes on the Fair Tax!
May 4 Update to Original April 29 Post: We were extremely disappointed that members of the Illinois House of Representatives adjourned without considering HJRCA 59, the Fair Tax amendment. With the deadline to get the measure on the ballot having come and gone, voters...