Bush’s Housing Proposals Endanger Tenants!    Act NOW!!

After taking no action on the bill last year, the House Financial Services Committee is now reportedly planning to act on the Bush Administration's housing bill (S 771/HR 1999), the "State and Local Housing Flexibility Act," with radical proposals that put millions of low-income families at risk. The bill would give local Public Housing Agencies (PHAs), which administer 1.9 million Section 8 Vouchers and another 1.3 units of Public Housing, the ability to throw out all the rules that protect tenants, in the name of local "flexibility."
At the same time, the Administration has again proposed deep cuts to the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) budget which could put Section 8 Voucher tenants at risk again this year. Although the Administration has asked for enough funds, Congress could cut Section 8 to shift needed funds to CDBG, Public Housing and other worthy programs. Taken together, these proposals could mean a massive reduction in the number of very low-income tenants served by Section 8 and greater hardship for families who continue to receive subsidies.

Here’s what Bush’s Housing Bill would do:

1. Eliminate "Enhanced" vouchers after one year. Where landlords have 'opted-out' of HUD housing programs, tenants receive "enhanced" vouchers to cover the rent difference as the rents rise to market levels. If Bush's bill is passed, tenants could be forced to pay about $300 more per month or leave their homes. As many as 200,000 families could be displaced.
2. Impose Time Limits and work requirements: PHAs could impose work requirements and kick tenants off Voucher subsidies after a five year "time limit," starting in 2008.
3. Raise rents paid by tenants. The bill would enable PHAs to dramatically increase rents (above 30% of income) for Voucher and Public Housing tenants, without regard to tenants' income. PHAs could also cut payments to landlords, which would mean fewer landlords taking vouchers and an increase in homelessness.
4. Target Vouchers to higher income tenants. Current law requires 75% of Vouchers to be set-aside for very low-income tenants, with incomes below 30% of the area median income. Instead, Bush's bill would require that only 10% of Vouchers be set aside for low-income tenants; 90% of Vouchers could be leased to tenants below 60% of the median. This would encourage PHAs to serve higher income tenants at the expense of the very poor. Over time, homelessness will increase dramatically.
   

PHAs may support HUD This is the fourth year that HUD has proposed to turn over Voucher administration to local or state agencies. In previous years, most PHAs helped tenants defeat these proposals, and related funding cuts to Section 8, on Capitol Hill. However, this year, some PHAs are leaning toward support for Bush's bill. Many PHA's are fed up dealing with HUD and want more "flexibility," better to manage what they see as inevitable funding cuts in the future. For example, Bush's bill would allow PHA's to take funds from Section 8 Vouchers to cover shortfalls caused by the Administration's proposed deep cuts to Public Housing. Clearly, this would hurt low-income Section 8 tenants. In addition to lobbying Congress, tenants and their allies need to lobby their local PHAs to urge them to fight these immoral proposals.

Budget for Section 8 at risk Since HUD began its assault on the Section 8 Voucher program, more than 140,000 fewer families are being served than just a few years ago, despite greater needs. For FY 2006, Congress adopted the Administration's request for enough funds for existing Vouchers and even to restore some cut from the year before. However, in 2006 Congress and the Administration will also implement a new "dollar-based" formula to distribute Section 8, rather than the "people-based" formula used in the past. This will result in major cuts to the Voucher program in about 25% of the 2,500 areas that administer Vouchers, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities ( www.cbpp.org ).
For FY 07, the Administration has again proposed deep cuts to other HUD programs, including major cuts to Public, Elderly and Disabled Housing and the popular Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which provides grants to cities. Since Congress has set aside limited funds for HUD overall, pressure may mount to cut Section 8 in order to fund these other HUD programs. Mayors and PHAs who have supported Section 8 in the past may be less supportive this year if they become convinced that cutting Section 8 is the only way to fund CDBG and Public Housing.

Tenants and their allies are urged to take the following steps to SAVE OUR HOMES:

1. Call Your Senators and Congressperson’s District Offices: (Find them!)

• Thank them for supporting full funding for Section 8 and other HUD programs in the past; ask them to support at least the President's request for Section 8 in FY 07. Ask them to restore a "people-based", not a "dollar-based", formula to distribute Section 8.
• Tell them you support full funding for ALL other HUD programs, including CDBG, Elderly and Public Housing, at least at last year's budget level
• Tell them to Kill Bush's Housing Bill-no time limits or rent increases for tenants! No repeal of Enhanced Vouchers after one year!

  To find out how to contact your Senators and U.S. Representative, enter your county and state at this website, or you can call the switchboard at the Senate (202-224-3121) or the House (202-225-3121) to be connected directly to your Senators' or Representatives' offices in Washington, D.C.
  
  2. Contact Your Local Housing Authority and Mayor’s Office Your local Housing Agency belongs to one or more national "trade associations" representing Public Housing Authority (PHA) interests in Washington. There are three major groups: 1) Public Housing Agency Directors' Association (PHADA); 2) National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO); and 3) Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA). The Bush Administration has been pressuring individual PHA's and their trade groups to support the "flexibility" provisions of the Bush Housing Bill, the State and Local Housing Flexibility Act (SLPHA). Many PHA's have not yet opposed the "flexibility" proposals to impose time limits or rent increases on Section 8 and Public Housing tenants, and some have even supported these anti-tenant measures.
  NAHRO, for example, now supports Bush's proposal to phase out Enhanced Vouchers for tenants after the first year where landlords have opted out of HUD contracts, which would result in forced evictions of more than 100,000 low income elderly and families. PHADA is promoting "tiered rent reform" which would almost certainly result in higher rents for tenants if adopted by Congress.
  

• Contact your PHA through your local tenant group or coalition. Ask your local City Councilors to help you set up a meeting, or hold a public hearing to flush out the position of your PHA. If they haven't yet done so, demand that they contact their Trade Associations to take a stronger stand against the Bush Housing Bill, and to demand full funding for all HUD housing programs, not just Section 8.

  Contact your Resident Advisory Board (RAB). Your local PHA also has a Resident Advisory Board (RAB) of tenants appointed by the PHA to "advise" them on matters affecting tenants. Ask for a meeting with your local RAB and join or encourage them to push the PHA to take a strong, public stand against the Bush Housing Bill.

  Contact your Mayor. Use the same approach to keep your Mayor on board for full Section 8 funding. The nation's Mayors have been strong supporters of Section 8. However, Bush has proposed deep cuts to Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), which fund city housing programs, and to Public Housing. With limited funds available for HUD overall on Capitol Hill, Congress may try to cut Section 8 this fall to fully fund CDBG and Public Housing. In this scenario, Mayors may weaken in their support for Section 8 in order to restore CDBG.
  If the PHA's or Mayors break ranks with tenants now and cut a deal with the Administration, then tenants can expect to see time limits, rent increases, and targeting of scarce Section 8 to higher income groups, followed by massive cuts to Section 8 funds overall. Keep the pressure on your Mayors and local PHA to Save Our Homes!