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Washington Update

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The Senate full Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2011 Transportation-HUD (THUD) spending bill on Thursday, July 22. As NAHRO reported last week, the House full Appropriations Committee approved their THUD bill on Tuesday, July 20. To see an updated appropriations chart of the House and the Senate proposed HUD budget numbers for FY 2011, please click HERE.

The proposed FY 2011 THUD bill could move to the House floor as early as this week. The full Senate will not likely take up their THUD spending bill until after the August recess. NAHRO will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.

Other Capitol Hill News

The House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to markup H.R. 5814, the “Public Housing Reinvestment and Tenant Protection Act of 2010,” tomorrow, July 27 at 10 am. The bill has several key provisions of interest to NAHRO members including:

H.R. 5814 contains language that would authorize the administration’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI). Notably, language contained in this portion of the bill would require that not less than 2/3 of the funding or 2/3 of the units assisted under the CNI be for public housing units, a provision which NAHRO advanced.

Title II of the bill, the “Public Housing One-for-One Replacement and Tenant Protection Act,” authored by Congresswoman Waters (D-Calif.), includes a one-for-one replacement requirement for public housing units demolished after August 1, 2008. This requirement and other provisions in Title II were addressed in NAHRO’s testimony on the One-for-One Replacement and Tenant Protection Act back in May (see below). We will continue to work with Representative Waters' staff, the staff of the Financial Services Committee and Congress at large to make this and other components of Title II more workable for PHAs.

Title III, “Public Housing and Rehabilitation,” authored by Chairman Frank (D-Mass.), provides a suite of tools to assist PHAs with operating and sustaining their properties. NAHRO is supportive of many of the provisions of this legislation. For instance the bill would authorize a program of loan guarantees for the Capital Fund Financing Program (CFFP). Furthermore, using language offered by NAHRO and PHADA, the bill allows any PHA to elect to freeze the three-year rolling base utility consumption levels for a period up to twenty years.

(To review NAHRO’s testimony re Title II and Title III of this bill see http://www.nahro.org/Purnell.pdf. Please note that changes have been made to each provision since we offered our testimony.)

Title IV incorporates Congresswoman Velázquez (D-N.Y.) “Together We Care Act,” H.R. 4224, which NAHRO supports. The bill authorizes a pilot program to train public housing residents to be home health aides to assist residents of public housing who are elderly or disabled.

NAHRO will provide further coverage of H.R. 5814 shortly after tomorrow’s markup. For questions please contact John Bohm (jbohm@nahro.org) or Cortney Watson (cwatson@nahro.org).

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