Housing Briefs

Section 811 reform legislation and FY 2010 T-HUD appropriations continue to move through the House and Senate. HUD released a letter on Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher shortages to Public Housing Authorities and the Technical Assistance Collaborative released a new Opening Doors on using the Neighborhood Stabilization fund from the Recovery Act to help create permanent, supportive housing.

House Passes Section 811 Reform Bill

The House of Representatives passed last week the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1675) which will significantly reform the Section 811 program. This ANCOR-supported bill would implement a new demonstration program that would triple the number of units to be built through use of other federal or state funds. The legislation was initially introduced by Reps. Christopher Murphy (D-CT) and Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL). In addition, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Mike Johanns (R-NE) introduced an identical companion version of the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2009 (S. 1481).

FY 2010 HUD Appropriations

The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday voted 30-0, after no debate, to approve a $122 billion spending bill for transportation and housing programs for fiscal 2010. The Senate and House (passed July 20) versions also differ slightly.

The Senate bill would provide $265 million for the Section 811 program, compared to $350 in the House version. The Section 202 program fares better in the House at $1 billion than the Senate's $785 million. The Senate bill would provide $18.1billion for Section 8 tenant-based vouchers, compared with $18.2 billion in the House bill, and $8.1 billion for the Section 8 project-based rental assistance account, compared with $8.7 billion in the House bill.

The Senate bill includes $4 billion for formula grants through the Community Development Block Grants program, compared with $4.2 billion in the House bill.

HUD Releases Letter on Section 8 Voucher Shortfall

The letter, sent July 30th to Public Housing Authorities (PHA), updates them on steps HUD is taking to minimize the effects of the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher shortfalls some PHAs are experiencing and how to prevent termination of vouchers.

New Opening Doors from the Technical Assistance Collaborative

This issue of Opening Doors provides an overview of HUD’s new Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), documents the purpose and history of the program, discusses how the funds are distributed, describes the ways that NSP can be used to create permanent supportive housing, and suggests strategies that can be used by the disability community to work with NSP grantees.