By Kathleen Shannon - Producer, Contact - News
Big Sky Connection - Fair-housing groups in Montana and across the nation have been on a rollercoaster ride since February because of back-and-forth news about their federal funding. The fate of that funding is now in the hands of a Massachusetts district court. Comments by Erin Kemple, vice president for fair housing services, National Fair Housing Alliance.
Kathleen Shannon
April 10, 2025 - Since February, 66 fair-housing groups across the country have been in limbo while their federal grants were cut, temporarily restored, then tied in with a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Now, the decision is back in a federal district court.
Since the Fair Housing Act of 1968, these groups have investigated housing discrimination cases and counseled victims. That includes Montana Fair Housing, which relies on a federal grant of $425,000 for about 83% of its annual budget. Advocates for cuts argue they want housing laws to return to a pre-DEI era.
Erin Kemple, vice president for fair housing services with the National Fair Housing Alliance, noted that antidiscrimination laws go back much further.
"The fair-housing laws have been on the books for a long time. And the administration doesn't seem to understand that as a result of that, they have obligations and requirements that they must uphold," she explained. "It's not a policy, it's the law."
Kemple said briefs are due to the district court Friday, April 11. According to the Alliance, there were more than 33,000 reported complaints of housing discrimination in the U.S. in 2023.
Kemple calls housing a "hub" around which almost everything in a person's life revolves.
"It's going to determine where your kids go to school, where you get a job, your access to transportation, your access to food, and even where you go to church on the weekends. All of that is impacted by where you live," she continued.
She added that interruptions to housing services can impact people who use shelters, older Americans moving in or out of nursing homes and access to fresh food.
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