Housing Trust Preserved
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23-Massachusetts Representatives Barney Frank (D-4th) and Michael Capuano (D-8 th ) joined an effort Thursday to force the House to vote on a bill seeking to preserve low-income housing for 1.5 million families over the next decade.
The bill was introduce by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), but has been bottled up for over a year. Sanders, Frank, Capuano and others are hoping to use a parliamentary tool known as a discharge petition, to force a floor vote on the legislation, which neither the House Financial Services Committee nor House leaders have acted upon.
A successful discharge petition requires 218 signatures, a majority of House members, and the two Massachusetts’ legislators bring the total to more than 127. They hope to reach 218 by before Congress leaves for the year in October.
Frank joined the co-sponsors in promoting the discharge legislation Thursday at a press conference. Speaking later during an interview, Frank said, “We have a terrible crisis in America and it is especially bad in our area. We do not have enough affordable housing.”
As of Thursday, no Republican representatives had signed the petition legislation. A number of Republicans, he said however, had signed on as co-sponsors of the bill. “This is going to be a test of whether or not they are hypocrites,” Frank said.
The legislation seeks to preserve 1.5 million units of affordable housing for low-income families over the next 10 years by establishing a trust fund. That would then provide states with funding for the construction of new housing, acquisition of real property, housing rehabilitation, and affordable housing incentives. Five percent of the grant amounts could also be used for operating costs of non-profits developing affordable rental housing.
“To me this is just the smallest possible step we could take that indicates that the federal government actually cares about affordable housing,” Capuano, a sponsor of the discharge petition, said Wednesday.
He blasted the Republican House leadership for not acting on the bill. “That tells us that we do have a federal housing policy,” he said. “And that policy is-we don’t like affordable housing.”
“The Republicans have refused to let it come to the floor,” Frank added with his own criticism. “The Republican leadership is very undemocratic.”
Forty-five percent of funds received by each state would have to go to families whose incomes fall below 30 percent of the area or state’s median income, whichever is higher. At minimum, 30 percent would also go to families earning the minimum wage, and no more than 25 percent would go to the development, rehabilitation or preservation of existing affordable housing (either rental or homeownership).
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), which has led a campaign in support of the legislation, Massachusetts families earning $21,643 or less would fall into the 30 percent of the state median category and receive the bulk of the funding. In New Bedford, where 30 percent of the area median income is $15, 810, residents would qualify for the fund based on the state median income requirements.
“The idea is that the funds would be available to help communities, and then it would be as flexible as possible as long as communities meet some broad guidelines,” said Kim Schaffer, outreach director for the NLIHC.
NLIHC shows data indicating a full-time (40 hours per week) worker in Massachusetts would have to earn $22.40 per hour in order (approximately $40,000 annually) to afford a two-bedroom rental unit at the state’s Fair Market cost. Its data is based on 2000 U.S. Census data on family median income estimates and 2003 Consumer Price Index Data from HUD.
The legislation, Schaffer said, is much needed. “We get calls everyday from people who have been at their ropes,” she said. “For every 4 families that need assistance, only one is receiving it. That really speaks to the dire shortages we are facing.”
