Author: Chris Holden
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Biden’s FY23 budget proposes 200,000 new Section 8 vouchers
President Biden has proposed adding 200,000 new Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers in his Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal to Congress. If enacted, this would be the largest increase since the program began in 1974; and would be a big step towards making sure those who need rental assistance can get it. The budget requests…
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At least 1.36M evictions were prevented in 2021
New research estimates that at least 1.36 million evictions were prevented in 2021 by government policies that aided struggling renters. The Eviction Lab’s 2021 research report shows that low-income renters and renters of color saw the sharpest drop in eviction filings through the COVID-19 pandemic’s second year. The Eviction Lab at Princeton University has been…
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Pandemic leads to undercount of unsheltered homeless in 2021
Because of issues related to the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s annual homeless report is missing a count of unsheltered homeless for almost half of local jurisdictions. HUD released its annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress on homelessness in America last month. This year’s report is mostly focused on homeless people…
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HUD’s FY 22 funding will add 25,000 new Section 8 vouchers
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s increased budget for Fiscal Year 2022 will provide 25,000 more Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers for low-income households. This is one of the largest funding increases in the rental assistance program’s history. President Biden and Congressional leaders agreed to spending amounts for FY 22 government operations last week.…
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Biden supports more affordable housing in first State of the Union address
Affordable housing was only briefly mentioned in President Biden’s first State of the Union address last week, but it showed that the affordable housing crisis is a priority for the administration. The first part of President Biden’s speech was devoted to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But the second part of the address covered what…
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Temporary government funding would force cuts to Section 8 vouchers
More than 100,000 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers could be lost if Congress does not pass a new spending bill for this year. Congress is currently in the appropriations phase, which means that funding levels for each program in the spending bills are being determined. The House of Representatives already passed the spending bills for…
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Affordable housing for all would save billions in healthcare costs
Low-income families in unstable housing conditions are far more likely to have preventable health problems. Research from Children’s HealthWatch shows that billions of dollars would be saved in healthcare and educational costs if every family had a stable place to call home. Children’s HealthWatch used cost-modeling methods that are consistent with those used by the…
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Build Back Better Act passes House with $150B for affordable housing
The House of Representatives passed historic legislation on Friday that would boost the social safety net and make big investments in affordable housing. The $2.2 trillion Build Back Better Act passed on a party-line vote of 220-213. None of the 213 Republican members of the House voted to pass it. If it makes it through…
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Bipartisan infrastructure bill will extend broadband to low-income renters
Yesterday, the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill was signed by President Joe Biden. It does not provide any money for affordable housing, but it does give billions to improve roads, bridges, ports, and airports. Improvements that are part of this bill will provide a lot of help to low-income renters. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs…
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Programs now helping renters with second round of Emergency Rental Assistance
As eviction protections expire in jurisdictions around the country, state and local governments have scrambled to get federal Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) to desperate tenants behind on their rent. While most state and local programs are focused on using up the first pot of ERA funds, some programs have begun tapping into the second pot…