Industry opposes section 8 proposal.

NAA/NMHC have joined several real estate organizations and resident advocates in formally opposing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) latest proposal to shift responsibility for the Section 8 program to the states.

Under the "Flexible Voucher Program" proposal, HUD hopes to turn the program into a block grant to public housing agencies (PHA). (See Feb. 13, 2004, Washington Update.) PHAs would receive a set amount of funding each year that would not necessarily take into consideration the actual cost of housing. In a letter to Acting HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, nine allied trade organizations, including NAA/NMHC, argue this proposal would dramatically reduce the number of vouchers funded over the next few years. The groups urge HUD to work with housing providers to identify alternative reforms that will address rising voucher costs in such a way that all of the vouchers currently authorized by Congress are funded.

Meanwhile, HUD's FY 2005 budget proposal is also being criticized by unlikely critic. In his Feb. 21 column, Washington Post reporter Roger K. Lewis, who usually writes on architectural topics, took aim at HUD's proposal to eliminate funding for Hope VI, the program that redevelops distressed public housing projects. Lewis explained that although only 15 of 193 Hope VI grants were completed as of 2002, many housing officials say the program's approach is "conceptually correct," but plagued by delays and poor financial management. Lewis chides the government for simply killing the program instead of fixing it and says the move is evidence that "the federal government is again writing off affordable housing." He goes on to say "it is emblematic of the continuing disregard for America's cities and their populations."