Attorney General Kris Mayes has stepped into the fray alongside other attorneys general to advocate for fair housing organizations that are now grappling with the abrupt cancellation of federally allocated grant funds. Representing Arizona, Mayes has joined in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, demanding the reinstatement of grants that were crucial in combatting discriminatory practices in housing.
These sudden cancelations by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) targeted grants aimed at fighting housing discrimination across 33 states. According to a brief released by the Attorney General’s Office, these abrupt cancellations went into effect immediately and, with no prior warning—despite the federal obligation to maintain such funding. "HUD’s sudden and baseless cancellation of these grants threatens to gut critical protections against housing discrimination," Mayes stated, stressing the significance of fair housing organizations in ensuring equal opportunities in the quest to secure a home.
The legal struggle began when HUD decided to halt 78 preexisting Fair Housing Initiative Program (FHIP) grants, prompting a coalition of 66 nonprofit fair housing groups to sue. They initially saw a glimmer of hope when the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts reinstated the grants temporarily on March 26. However, HUD leveraged a Supreme Court interim ruling on a separate case to dissolve this temporary restraining order, a move that was granted by the District Court on April 14.
In their joint brief, the attorneys general collectively argue that dissolving the temporary restraining order was ill-advised, since the plaintiffs have a strong likelihood of prevailing on the lawsuit’s merits. Moreover, permitting HUD's revocation to stand will likely disrupt the pivotal work these organizations do, potentially leading to increased undetected, and unaddressed discrimination in their states and residents. Mayes' coalition includes attorneys general from a swath of the nation, from Massachusetts, New York,, and California to the likes of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, and beyond.
