Proposed Legislation

• The assisted housing programs have become overly complex and burdensome to administer thus making it more difficult to serve families that need help.
• Unintended consequences have led to programs that disincentivize work and independence.
• Rising costs experienced by the Housing Choice Voucher program have led to the need to reexamine programs to ensure dollars allocated are spent in the most effective way.

Key Facts:

• About 20 income exclusions and 18 mandated exclusions/deductions go into calculating rent and income.
• One study indicated that it would consume more than 6 hours of PHA staff time to correctly conduct the required tenant interview and income calculation process.
• While many families stay less than five years in assisted housing, even more stay 5 years and more. It is likely that those families that do stay at least five years will end up staying up to 10 years.
• In 1998, the Housing Choice Voucher program consumed 36 percent of the HUD budget. Today, it absorbs nearly 60 percent.

What is Provided?

• SLHFA provides local Housing Authorities the ability to fashion housing programs that best meet the needs of their local populations.
• However, PHAs can retain much of what they are doing now if they so choose.
• SLHFA would change the one-size-fits-all approach to assistance. SLHFA would offer PHAs the freedom to set reasonable subsidy standards based on local market conditions, and therefore serve as many families as possible within their grant amount.
• SLHFA provides an incentive program (MTW) that would provide even greater flexibility.

Key Facts:

• Despite record high vacancy rates and soft rental markets in pockets across the country, the average per unit rental payment has increased by 37 percent over the past five years. Yet, according to the Consumer Price Index, the average nationwide rent increase was only 13 percent.
• PHAs can continue to serve the same percentage of extremely low income families that they are currently serving; they can continue to use the existing rent structures; they can continue to provide local preferences for homeless and other groups.