They
claim
that
the
defendants
“arbitrarily
and
without
notice,
reason,
or
sensible
explanation
terminated
78
Fair
Housing
Initiatives
Program
(FHIP)
grants,”
which
the
groups
say
“immediately
compromised”
their
work
against
housing

discrimination
and
segregation.

A
federal
judge

paused
the
cancellations
soon
after
to
review
the
matter.
But
the
pause
was
later
rescinded
by
the
judge,
and
the
NFHA
members
and
state
AGs
are
asking
for
it
to
be
reinstated.

Bonta’s
office
explained
that
California
is
home
to
“at
least
seven
fair
housing
organizations
whose
FHIP
funds
would
be
terminated.”

FHIP
was
established
by


Congress
in
the
late
1980s.
It
requires
“the


U.S.
Department
of
Housing
and
Urban
Development
(HUD)
to
provide
funds
to
nonprofit
housing
organizations
that
carry
out
investigatory,
enforcement,
education,
and
outreach
activities
aimed
at
rooting
out
discrimination
in
the
provision
of
housing,”
Bonta’s
office
explained.

This
has
led
to
consistent
congressional
appropriations
for
the
program
on
an
annual
basis.
The
AGs
and
plaintiffs
argue
that
the


White
House
does
not
have
the
unilateral
authority
to
cancel
funds
previously
appropriated
by
the
legislative
branch
and
signed
into
law
by
the
president.

“As
I’ve
said
over
and
over
again,
the
Trump
administration
is
not
above
the
law,”
Bonta
said
in
a
statement.
“My
fellow
attorneys
general
and
I
are
proud
to
be
supporting
non-profit
organizations
that
Congress
tasked
to
root
out
housing
discrimination
in
our
communities.
The
termination
of
these
grants
was
illegal,
and
they
must
be
reinstated.”

He
added
that
the
stakes
of
the
case
are
high
for
the
impacted
nonprofits,
since
they
would
be
forced
to
close
and
states
could
“suffer
severe
harms
in
tackling
housing
discrimination.”

An
announcement
of
the
amicus
brief
filing
stated
that
the
cancellations
will
have
a
material
impact
on
the
collaborative
work
that
AGs’
offices
perform
with
the
impacted
organizations.

“In
several
crucial
ways,
the
work
done
by
the
non-profit
housing
organizations
complements
the
efforts
of
their
states
to
provide
safe,
fair,
and

affordable
housing
to
their
residents
while
easing
administrative
burdens
on
their
states,”
Bonta’s
office
added.

Other
states
included
in
the
amicus
brief
include
New
York,
Massachusetts,
Arizona,
Colorado,
Connecticut,
Delaware,
the
District
of
Columbia,
Hawaii,
Illinois,
Maine,
Maryland,
Minnesota,
Nevada,
New
Jersey,
New
Mexico,
North
Carolina,
Oregon,
Rhode
Island,
Vermont
and
Washington.