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HUD recently released an updated Section 8 Renewal Policy Guide that is effective July 28, 2017. The Section 8 Renewal Guide assists those handling the renewal of expiring Section 8 HAP contracts. The guide replaces the last version, which was published in August of 2015.
There are 27 revisions in the updated guide, as well as a reorganized and updated chapter on rent comparability studies. The more significant changes are listed below:
To celebrate 25 years of the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program, HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) and Office of Multifamily Housing Programs (Multifamily) each issued FSS guidebooks for their respective programs. The guidebooks provide information about promising practices that may help housing authorities and private owners establish and run effective FSS programs.
Representative David Rouzer (R-NC) recently introduced a bill that would amend the Social Security Act by requiring individuals to pass a drug screening process in order to be eligible for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Public Housing, and Section 8 Rental Assistance programs.
On May 23, the Trump administration released its “Taxpayer First” fiscal year 2018 budget request. The request includes the 2018 proposed budget for HUD. HUD’s request includes $40.68 billion in gross discretionary funding for the Department. This amounts to a decrease of 13.2 percent under the proposed budget. The proposed reductions would be implemented primarily through rental assistance reforms and eliminating funding for programs. Additional savings are associated with streamlining HUD’s own internal operations.
HUD Secretary Ben Carson and Deputy Secretary-designate Pamela Patenaude recently defended the Trump administration’s HUD budget at separate committee hearings in the Senate. Secretary Carson appeared before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. Nearly every Subcommittee member criticized the administration’s proposal to reduce funding for HUD programs and terminate some, particularly the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.
President Trump recently signed a $1 trillion spending bill to keep the government operating through September. The bill cleared both houses of Congress and Trump signed it into law just ahead of a midnight deadline after which some government operations would’ve had to begin shutting down. The bill passed with bipartisan support in both chambers by a vote of 309-118 in the House and 79-18 in the Senate.
Congress authorized the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) to create a new tool for public housing agencies to address the backlog of capital repairs in the nation’s public housing stock and to stem the loss of affordable units. Recently, just four years after HUD made its first awards under this program, HUD announced that the program has crossed over 60,000 units and raised a total of $4 billion to rehabilitate and in some cases replace affordable properties from the ground up with new construction.
The White House recently announced that President Trump intends to nominate Pamela Patenaude to serve as Deputy Secretary for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Neal Rackleff of Texas to be an Assistant Secretary of HUD, Community Planning and Development.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, HUD Secretary Ben Carson said he expects to release a policy agenda within the next few months that delivers “bang for the buck,” partly by encouraging more private sector collaboration. He said he expects to advance public-private partnerships, extending low-income housing tax credits and providing more opportunities for public-housing residents to get jobs at the buildings where they live.
In 2009, Westchester County in New York State entered into a landmark desegregation agreement with the federal government. In April 2013, the United States Justice Department sent Westchester officials a letter saying that the county had failed to enact legislation prohibiting housing discrimination based on source of income as ordered by the settlement and by a federal court ruling.
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