The Hillhighlights an interesting fissure between Democratic allies in the Illinois congressional delegation. On the one hand, there's Rep. Bill Foster, who sponsored a bill preventing anyone convicted of a sex offense, mortgage fraud, or drug-dealing in the last five years from buying foreclosed homes that the government acquired as part of its $15 billion federal grant and loan bailout program. This concern over ex-convicts was first trumpeted by Republicans during initial congressional debate and Foster took it upon himself to push the specific provision.
But Danny Davis, a long-time advocate of prisoner re-entry and the chief sponsor of the recently-signed Second Chance Act, was none too pleased. He immediately drafted and circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter criticizing Foster's approach, reminding his congressional allies that "access to housing can be a key factor for formerly incarcerated parents to make positive changes and rebuild their lives." The Washington-based prison reform organization The Sentencing Project joined Davis' call to dismiss Foster's punitive bill:
“Men and women transitioning to life after incarceration are already disproportionately likely to become homeless,” wrote Sentencing Project Executive Director Mark Mauer. “Creating additional obstacles to housing will only worsen this condition.”
On May 13, House leaders pulled the bill before it came up for consideration and Foster’s spokeswoman suggests he has no interest in altering it, leaving it in Congressional limbo. More broadly, the episode serves as a helpful reminder to Illinois progressives: while Foster's win is valuable, especially because he's been on the right side of a lot of fights thus far, he's still a moderate Democrat in a conservative district and will need to be pushed by progressive activists to take decisive stands on issues that aren't in his wheelhouse.
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