Congresswoman Waters Introduces Legislation to Preserve Public Housing and Protect Residents
Washington, DC – February 18, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) reintroduced her legislation from the 111th Congress today that would make key investments in affordable public housing. H.R. 762, the Public Housing Reinvestment and Tenant Protection Act of 2011, contains provisions to revitalize housing units and neighborhoods; address one-for-one replacement issues; empower housing authorities to make reforms; and to create jobs, with support from Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), her colleagues on the Financial Services Committee. She issued the following statement:
“For many years now, I have worked to preserve and improve the nation’s public housing developments, which provide much needed affordable housing for 1.2 million low-income families nationwide. Public housing is currently in a crisis. Since 1995, the nation has lost 200,000 public housing units. HUD estimates that 10,000 units a year are demolished or sold through its demolition-disposition process.
“Some of these units have been replaced by housing choice vouchers. However, a housing choice voucher, which belongs to an individual, can never truly replace a public housing unit, which belongs to a community. The affordable rental crisis in America today has been exacerbated by the lack of hard affordable rental units and an overreliance on vouchers.
“Waiting lists for vouchers tell us that there is plenty of demand for housing; however, the demand is high because our nation has enacted policies that have reduced the supply of affordable rental housing. The systematic disinvestment in public housing is one such policy.
“My legislation would reverse that policy by preserving our public housing units, improving neighborhoods, and protecting tenants. I am pleased that I was able to work with Reps. Frank and Velazquez on this legislation, which is critical for our economy, our communities, and our most vulnerable citizens. Each of the bill’s four titles is designed to reinvest in public housing developments or residents.
“Title I establishes a Choice Neighborhoods grant program. Under Choice Neighborhoods public and assisted housing developments, and the neighborhoods in which they are located, would be revitalized. When the Administration proposed its Choice Neighborhoods Initiative as the successor to HOPE VI, we worked to incorporate the principles of HOPE VI reform—including one-for-one replacement and tenant protections— into that proposal.
“The resulting legislation strikes the right balance between preserving public housing and providing grantees with the flexibility to improve and stabilize neighborhoods devastated by extreme poverty by providing neighborhoods with critical community improvements, such as gardens, parks, public transportation, retail, and other amenities typically lacking in such neighborhoods.
“Title II of the bill would reform Section 18, the law that governs the disposition and demolition of public housing units. Currently, the law does not require that demolished units be replaced at all. Notifications to residents are lacking and, if any units are rebuilt, many residents find that due to restrictive rescreening criteria they are not able to move back in. The legislation corrects these problems.
“Title III of the bill, authored by Rep. Frank, addresses the capital needs in public housing by providing public housing agencies (PHAs) with the financial tools they need to preserve public housing, including one-for-one replacement. It also provides resources for PHAs to make energy efficiency improvements in public housing.
“Title IV, authored by Rep. Velazquez, would create job opportunities for public housing residents by establishing a program to train these residents to become in-home health care aides for elderly and disabled public housing residents.
“This bill represents a reinvestment in our infrastructure, our communities, and our citizens and is precisely the type of legislation needed to win the future.”
Contact:
Sean Bartlett (202) 225-2201
