Affordable Housing

August 1, 2007

On July 12, H.R. 1851, the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act (SEVRA) was passed by the House with overwhelming approval (333-83). The bill provides for the authorization of 100,000 additional vouchers over five years. The Department of Housing and Urban Development would also be required to base the allocation of vouchers on statistics from the previous 12 months, instead of using older statistics. The bill was able to withstand a series of amendments aimed at changing the nature of the Section 8 voucher program such as a time limit for participation in the project of seven years.

Introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) on June 28, H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act, has already been forced to withstand various tests. The bill would create a trust fund for the construction, rehabilitation and preservation of decent, safe and affordable housing for low-income families. During the final House vote on the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development appropriations bill, an amendment was introduced which would prohibit the use of any FHA surplus funds in the creation of a housing trust fund. However, the amendment failed. On July 31, the House Financial Services Committee approved the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund, 45-23. The Committee rejected various Republican amendments which would have drastically altered the bill.

When the House returns in September, it is set to consider H.R. 1852, the Expanding American Homeownership Act, which would transfer Federal Housing Authority (FHA) surplus finds to the National Housing Trust Fund.

NETWORK Values

NETWORK believes that access to safe, affordable housing is a basic human right.