What Has André Carson Done On the Affordable Housing and Eviction Crisis?

Indianapolis Is Fifth-Worst in the Country for Evictions. 18 Years. No Standalone Legislation.

Friday, April 17

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Indianapolis, IN — Indianapolis is one of the worst cities in America to be a renter.

 

The city ranks fifth-worst in the country for eviction rates. Thousands of Indianapolis families are removed from their homes every year because the gap between what housing costs and what wages provide has become impossible to bridge. The United Way of Central Indiana estimates that up to 77% of households in some Indianapolis neighborhoods are either in poverty or struggling to meet basic needs under updated metrics that reflect the actual cost of living.

 

One in four children in Indianapolis lives in poverty. Families double up, move between motels, and cycle through shelters not because of individual failure but because the system was never designed to catch them.

 

André Carson has represented this city for 18 years.

 

In that time, no standalone affordable housing legislation bears his name as law. He secured community project funding for specific housing developments, real money that helped real projects. He voted for the right bills when they came to the floor. He expressed concern about eviction rates in public statements.

 

But concern is not legislation. A vote is not leadership. A letter of support is not the same as authoring the solution.

 

A congressman representing one of the most eviction-burdened cities in America—with 18 years of seniority, two powerful committee assignments, and relationships across the federal government—has the tools to do more than show up for the vote. He can hold hearings that put the crisis on the national agenda. He can author legislation that changes the federal formula for housing assistance. He can fight to expand tenant protections, to fund emergency rental assistance, to push the Department of Housing and Urban Development to treat Indianapolis's eviction crisis as the emergency it is.

 

None of that has happened.

 

46 states have stronger tenant protections than Indiana. Indianapolis can’t fix that alone. It requires state action and federal pressure. A member of Congress who uses the platform to force that conversation, who makes Indianapolis's housing crisis a nationally visible issue, who fights for the families being evicted rather than for the donors who fund the campaigns…that member changes the equation.

 

Indianapolis hasn’t had that member.

 

"Families in Indianapolis are being evicted at one of the highest rates in the country," Hornedo said. "18 years of incumbency. Two powerful committee assignments. No standalone housing legislation. What this city needed was a fighter who would put Indianapolis's housing crisis on the national agenda and use every tool available to address it. What it got was silence and sympathy. Indianapolis families deserved more than that. They still do."

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This is part of the Hornedo campaign's daily accountability series, What Has André Carson Done?, running through May 1st. Learn more at georgehornedo.com.

 

Indianapolis deserves more than a vote in Washington. It deserves a congressman who uses the full platform of the office to fight for federal resources, to force the conversation at every level of government, and to show up for this community before the cameras arrive. That's the standard. That's what's been missing.

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RECORD CHECK: The Center for Effective Lawmaking ranks Congressman Carson 197th out of 220 House Democrats in legislative effectiveness. Of his claimed 22 bills signed into law, 2 are standalone enacted bills—the Ariel Rios Federal Building naming and the Kennedy-King National Commemorative Site Act. 

 

73% of Congressman Carson's campaign funding comes from PACs, much of it from corporate PACs including AES Indiana, BlackRock, and defense contractors. Only 7% comes from small-dollar donors.

 

When Julia Carson held this seat, Indianapolis was a competitive Democratic stronghold that helped power statewide wins. Under André Carson, the 7th Congressional District has become the worst in Indiana for voter turnout and Democrats haven't won statewide since 2012.