NAHRO's 2003 Legislative Agenda
NAHRO - NAHRO's 2003 Legislative Agenda Making Housing and Community Development a National Priority and Taking a Stand

Appropriations

The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) calls for con-crete action on funding and programs that allow its members to appropriately meet the needs of the communities our members serve. Without resources and flexibility, the exciting changes that are occurring in local communities will become the exception rather than the rule. The following programs should be funded and modified for communities to sustain themselves and grow.

NAHRO’s Recommended Funding Levels

• HOME - $2.25 billion
• CDBG - $5 billion (formula)
• Operating Fund* - $4.1 billion
• Capital Fund - $3.5 billion
• HOPE VI - $625 million
• Security Needs - $310 million
• Housing Vouchers - (sufficient funds to renew all expiring contracts)
• ROSS - $55 million
• Homeless - $1.325 billion
• HOPWA - $297 million
• Production - $1 billion

  * includes funding for operating needs & unreimbursed expenses

Authorization language

NAHRO members continue to assume the responsibility of serving the needs of low-income families in their communities. In order to adequately serve these families, the following tools must be implemented:

Local Administration of Programs:
NAHRO strongly supports local administration of housing and community development programs. NAHRO opposes any effort to divert administration of these programs from local agencies to state entities. There is no credible evidence that demon-strates that state agencies more effectively manage the public housing and/or housing voucher pro-grams. SEMAP, incremental voucher awards, and the reallocation of unused vouchers provide the basis for evaluating and rewarding performance. For example, the most recent information available shows that 96 percent of existing vouchers (non-special purpose) are being used by families in need of housing assistance. As such, efforts to pursue a wholesale block granting of the voucher program to states would undermine the entire performance-based system. The voucher program, in particular, is a market-driven program that requires knowledge and understanding of local conditions. Local agencies effectively provide the level of service families need to solve their housing situation.

Affordable Housing Production:
NAHRO supports creation of a new production program that is formula driven (with a minimum funding of $1 billion) and provides local communities direct access to federal funds with minimal federal regulations. The new production program should serve those families earning less than 50 percent of area median income (AMI); however, communities in high cost areas should be allowed to serve those earning up to 80 percent of AMI. Mixed income developments should be a requirement of these projects with a rent structure that includes an economic rent similar to the HOME/tax credit approach.

Curtailing insurance cost:
The tragedy of September 11, 2001, has sent insurance costs skyrocketing. Some housing agencies have experienced increases approaching 300 percent while others are finding it difficult to secure affordable insurance rates for mixed-finance projects. Housing agencies use operating funds to cover the costs of insurance; however, the increase in rates is making it difficult to meet basic assistance needs to residents. NAHRO calls on Congress to provide immediate financial relief to housing agencies to compensate for the increased insurance rates.

HOME:
NAHRO supports expansion of the HOME program to include creation of a securitization and loan guarantee program similar to the community development block grant (CDBG) program. NAHRO opposes any set-asides to the HOME program.

Simplifying the rent setting system:
NAHRO calls for a revision of the current rent structures within the public housing and Section 8 programs. In public housing, rents are income-based rather than cost-based, which makes it difficult to determine an appropriate level of operating subsidy. For residents, an income-based rent does little to prepare them for entry into the market-rate rental or homeownership arenas where rents or mortgages are based on factors such as operating costs, profit and debt service. NAHRO supports providing housing agencies with the flexibility to develop a subsequent rent structure that conforms to local markets and does not preclude low-income families from housing opportunities otherwise available to them.

Evictions for Criminal Activity:
The Supreme Court reaffirmed the rights of a housing authority to exercise discretion in determining whether to seize possession of a unit when a person within that unit commits a crime or is involved in activities that threaten the health and safety of other residents. NAHRO supports this position and opposes any efforts to weaken the authority reaffirmed by the Supreme Court.

Providing Security to Residents:
Housing agencies effectively reduced crime in and around their properties when funds from the public housing drug elimination grant program (PHDEP) were available. Since those funds have been removed and alternative funding has been difficult to secure, however, housing agencies are seeing a return to pre-PHDEP criminal activity. As a result, NAHRO supports a new grant program to replace PHDEP. It should have tighter controls on spending and allow housing agencies to fund initiatives that have proven effective in deterring crime and maintaining a safe living environment for public housing residents and their surrounding communities.

Local Administration of Programs:
NAHRO strongly supports local administration of housing and community development programs. NAHRO opposes any effort to divert administration of these programs from local agencies to state and/or regional entities. There is no credible evidence that demonstrates that state and/or regional agencies more effectively manage the public housing and/or housing voucher programs. SEMAP, incremental voucher awards, and the reallocation of unused vouchers provide the basis for evaluating and rewarding performance. For example, the most recent information available shows that 96 percent of existing vouchers (non-special purpose) are being used by families in need of housing assistance. As such, efforts to pursue a wholesale block granting of the voucher program to states would undermine the entire performance-based system. The voucher program, in particular, is a market-driven program that requires knowledge and understanding of local conditions. Local agencies effectively provide the level of service families need to solve their housing situation.

Partnerships with Faith-based groups:
NAHRO members have historically worked with faith-based groups in a variety of settings to provide housing and other services to low- and moderate-income families. NAHRO supports continued efforts to expand opportunities for housing agencies to work with these groups. NAHRO does not believe these groups are effective substitutes for the work currently performed by housing agencies, existing faith-based groups administering HUD programs, or existing partnerships between both groups.

Reauthorization of the HOPE VI Program:
NAHRO strongly supports continuation of the HOPE VI program. The annual notice of funding availability should be simplified and made consistent from year to year. This would lower agencies’ cost of preparing the application and make the program more accessible to agencies with fewer available resources, especially smaller agencies. These improvements should be made with the input of HOPE VI grantees as well as agencies that have not won grants. NAHRO believes Congress should amend the public housing statute to change the definition of distress to one that reflects the needs in different-sized agencies and includes social distress and developments for the elderly. The program should allow for the production of incremental units using HOPE VI funds as well as other public housing and leveraged funds.

Public housing reinvestment initiative:
NAHRO supports the administration’s effort to create a public housing reinvestment initiative that will enable housing agencies to address the $20 billion backlog of capital needs through leveraging capital funds and a rent structure that will help support debt on the improved properties. NAHRO does not believe this initiative should act as a substitute or justification for cuts to the Capital Fund. NAHRO’s support for this initiative depends on substantial industry input in the development of the program rules and regulation; flexible rules to govern the program; the identification of flexible financing mechanisms to address capital needs and that the program provides avenues for further diversification of the housing agency portfolio.

Work requirement and term limits for assistance:
NAHRO supports efforts to promote self-sufficiency among families receiving housing assistance. NAHRO opposes efforts to impose mandatory work requirements or term limits as a condition for receiving housing assistance. NAHRO believes these decisions should be left to local communities.

Housing Vouchers:
NAHRO strongly supports reforms to the housing voucher program. These include increasing the fair market rent to the 50th percentile; allowing voucher holders to use more than 40 percent of their gross income for rent; to authorize housing agencies to use up to 5 percent of their housing assistance payment (HAP) to assist families in finding units; to allow housing agencies to increase their payment standard to 120 percent without HUD approval; and, to allow agencies to abate HAP on graduated basis due to the nature and severity of noncompliance with HQS violations. Furthermore, NAHRO supports changing the income targeting standards to 75 percent of all applicants who are issued vouchers below 30 percent of Area Median Income (AMI), rather than restricting agencies to guarantee that 75 percent of all extremely low income (ELI) applicants’ issued vouchers lease successfully.

Assisted living and related services for the Elderly in public housing:
NAHRO supports creation of a demonstration program that allows housing agencies to determine appropriate approaches to meet the needs of elderly households. Currently, more than a third of all public housing families are the elderly with varying degrees of need. This population is growing, becoming frailer, and is in need of supportive services to avoid expensive and often premature institutionalization. More research is needed to determine how to serve this population in health care, daily living, and social services. A demonstration program of at least 15 agencies in a variety of communities, including outcome monitoring, cost analysis, and assessment, will allow housing agencies to develop specific responses to the needs of the elderly, and to provide replicable, cost-effective models for other agencies.

Community service:
NAHRO opposes the community service requirement. NAHRO believes it is an unfunded mandate that creates administrative burdens for housing agencies.

Davis-Bacon:
NAHRO supports increasing the contract value threshold that triggers payment of Davis-Bacon wages to $100,000. The current threshold causes unnecessary inflation in the cost of very small contracts, and creates considerable administrative obstacles for housing and community development agencies and contractors. Often, smaller agencies in non-metropolitan areas cannot secure the services of a contractor because the contractors object to the amount of paperwork and monitoring required under the Davis-Bacon Act for low-profit, small jobs, etc.

Contacts:

Phone: (202) 289-3500
(Toll free) 877- 866-2476
Fax: (202) 289-4961

Saul N. Ramirez, Jr.
Executive Director

Julio Barreto, Jr., Director of Legislation and Program Development
Ext. 231, jbarreto@nahro.org
Safety, security and crime

Beth Cooper, Policy Analyst for Housing
Ext. 240, bcooper@nahro.org
Community Service, work requirement, term limits, local administration of programs, insurance cost, rent reform, ROSS, service coordinators

Dionne Roberts, Policy Analysts for Community Development
Ext. 239, droberts@nahro.org
CDBG, HOME, faith-based initiatives, local administration of programs, production, Davis-Bacon

Christine Siksa, Policy Analyst for Housing
Ext. 252, csiksa@nahro.org
Capital and Operating Funds, HOPE VI, Public Housing Reinvestment Initiative (PHRI), elderly and service coordinators, Davis-Bacon

Jonathan Zimmerman, Policy Analyst for Housing
Ext. 238, jzimmerman@nahro.org
Housing voucher program, rent reform, local administration of programs

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