Title
Calling on the Pennsylvania General Assembly to adopt the Whole-Home Repairs Act (Senate Bill 1135) and thanking Senator Nikil Saval for his commitment to creating safe, efficient, resilient housing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Body
WHEREAS, More than 280,000 occupied units in the Commonwealth have moderate to severe physical inadequacies, including leaky roofs or windows, blown fuses or exposed wiring, unreliable heat, and the lack of a flushing toilet; and
WHEREAS, Inadequate funding available to address emergency, basic systems, and habitability repairs prevents home repair service providers from preserving thousands of homes each year because deferred maintenance issues need to be resolved before applicants can receive weatherization, energy efficiency, and adaptive modification services; and
WHEREAS, Deferred maintenance may result in a variety of health and safety issues including exposure to mold and lead, inability to keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and high utility bills; and
WHEREAS, Homeowners, landlords, service providers, and administrators struggle to navigate differing eligibility requirements across programs supported through our existing home repair infrastructure because many counties lack the capacity to coordinate intake, sequence available programs, and provide comprehensive home repairs; and
WHEREAS, The success of local home repair interventions hinges upon the availability of skilled workers employed by licensed and insured businesses, but there are not enough skilled home repair professionals to meet an increased demand; and
WHEREAS, The climate crisis has caused temperatures in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to increase by 1.8F in the last century, and a 10% increase in precipitation, creating more potential problems for homeowners with deferred maintenance issues; and
WHEREAS, Housing affordability and the climate crisis are both equity issues, with communities of color and low-income communities...
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