California powerhouse Tia Boatman Patterson joins White House Office of Management and Budget
Patterson, the associate director for Housing, Treasury and Commerce, used to run the California Housing Finance Agency.
While on the campaign trail, President Joe Biden promised to invest in communities through housing. “Housing should be a right, not a privilege,” reads a statement on his website.
Now, Tia Boatman Patterson, former executive director of the California Housing Finance Agency and a vocal advocate for access to long-term housing for all, is joining the White House Office of Management and Budget as the associate director for Housing, Treasury and Commerce.
Patterson received a political science degree from San Diego State University and her law degree from the University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, but, according to her, none of that could have happened without public housing programs. She was raised in public housing, and her mother was only able to buy a house with the assistance of a first-time homebuyer program after the Fair Housing Act was passed. Patterson said having a home created stability for her entire family, and the leverage home-ownership brought allowed her and her sister to attend college.
Read More: Beyoncé partners with NAACP on pandemic housing grants
“A tireless housing advocate who knows through her own lived experiences how home ownership can break generational cycles of poverty, Tia brings unmatched credentials to help deliver on President Biden’s commitment to redress a history of discriminatory housing and lending practices that have expanded the racial wealth gap and put the American dream out of reach for far too many families of color,” a spokesperson for OMB told theGrio.
With the Biden administration focusing on reforming discriminatory housing regulations and considering a $15,000 tax credit for families buying their first homes, Patterson — who will oversee “about $90 billion in discretionary resources and $3 trillion in loans and loan guarantees for numerous Federal agencies and essential functions, from affordable housing to tax collection to weather prediction and trade” — seems like a natural fit.
One major point in the Biden administration’s housing plan is the plan to end “redlining and other discriminatory and unfair practices in the housing market,” according to his site.
Patterson, who worked at the California Housing Finance Agency from 2014 until just recently, was able to secure over $4 billion in loans for single families and helped more than 60,000 low- and moderate-income families find homes, according to the OMB.
Read More: Biden taps Rep. Marcia Fudge to lead housing agency
Patterson will be leading the OMB division that develops and oversees the budgets for multiple departments, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Small Business Administration.
As theGrio previously reported, Biden nominated Marcia Fudge to be the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, making her the second Black woman to lead the agency.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast, “Dear Culture?” Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
More About:Politics
You Might Like
