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Thirty-nine local public housing agencies across the country will continue to enjoy significantly greater flexibility to operate their federally funded housing programs following HUD’s recent announcement. Existing agreements under HUD’s Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration Program for 39 public housing authorities (PHAs) will now continue in effect until 2028.
Cox Communications recently announced a major investment in its efforts to narrow the digital divide through its support of HUD’s ConnectHome initiative. Cox Communications is extending its Connect2Compete low-cost Internet offering to any HUD-assisted household with school-age children within Cox’s 18-state service area.
On March 3, Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Representatives Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Mike Quigley (D-IL) introduced the “Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2016” (S. 2631/H.R. 4694) in the Senate and House respectively. The bills would protect children living in federally assisted housing from lead poisoning.
On March 10, HUD published a notice in the Federal Register extending the comment period regarding over-income residents in public housing. HUD is seeking input on whether public housing agencies should be required to terminate public housing assistance and evict families with incomes that “significantly” exceed income limits for a “sustained” period of time.
Any changes would have to go through the formal rulemaking process. Comments are due April 11.
HUD recently published the draft Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) Tool for States and Insular Areas and accompanying Federal Register Notice. The tool is intended to guide states through the AFH process required under HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulation. AFFH requires all entities that receive HUD funding from HOME, Community Development Block Grants, Emergency Solutions Grants, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS and public housing agencies (PHA) to take part in the AFH process.
A report recently issued by Economic Policy Institute, entitled Balancing Paychecks and Public Assistance: How Higher Wages Would Strengthen What Government Can Do, finds that raising the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2020 would reduce public assistance expenditures by $17 billion annually. Key findings include:
Representative Phil Roe (R-TN) recently introduced the “Fairness in Public Housing Act of 2016,” H.R. 4485, to “ensure that public housing dwelling units are occupied by low income families.” The proposed bill mandates that public housing agencies terminate the tenancy of public housing residents whose incomes are surpass 125 percent of the area median income at the annual income review, unless there are no families on the waiting list or applying for such housing.
HUD recently announced that it is allocating more $1.8 billion to public housing authorities in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to make needed capital improvements in their properties. The grants are provided through HUD’s Capital Fund Program, which offers annual funding to approximately 3,100 public housing authorities to build, repair, renovate, and/or modernize the public housing in their communities.
HUD Secretary Julián Castro and the Rockefeller Foundation recently announced the winners of the $1 billion National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC). Through NDRC, HUD will provide funding for resilient housing and infrastructure projects to states and communities that were impacted by major disasters between 2011 and 2013.
HUD recently announced it is making approximately $15 million available to test a promising housing and services model for low-income seniors to age in their own homes and delay or avoid the need for nursing home care. HUD’s Supportive Services Demonstration for Elderly Households in HUD-Assisted Multifamily Housing will offer three-year grants to eligible owners of HUD-assisted senior housing developments to cover the cost of a full-time Enhanced Service Coordinator and a part-time Wellness Nurse.
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