As it writes the final housing appropriations bill for fiscal year 2015, Congress should include a Senate Appropriations Committee-approved provision to expand the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD). Our new paper explains why expanding RAD makes sense, as it would help repair the nation’s public housing stock and preserve...
off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
Rental Assistance Kept Over 3 Million People Out of Poverty Last Year, New Census Data Show
October 16, 2014
Rental assistance programs kept millions of people above the poverty line in 2013, according to CBPP’s analysis of new Census data. The findings highlight the central role that rental assistance plays in helping low-income Americans keep a roof over their heads.
Our analysis using the Census...
[Revised] Key Lawmaker’s Bill Would Raise Rents on Poor While Lowering Them for Better-Off Households
September 24, 2014
A new bill from Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), chair of the House Financial Services Committee’s Housing and Insurance Subcommittee, would raise rents on some of the nation’s poorest families. The bill apparently intends the rent increases to balance the possible cost of allowing the Department of Housing and Urban...
Ryan Backs Reform to Mortgage Interest Deduction — But Bigger Changes Needed
August 27, 2014
Endorsing House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp’s proposal to limit the mortgage interest deduction recently, Budget Chairman Paul Ryan explained that it “ought to be a middle class tax break, not something for higher-income earners.” He’s right to criticize the deduction for...
Why the Ryan Plan Should Worry Those Concerned About the Affordable Housing Crisis, Part 2
August 5, 2014
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposal to consolidate 11 safety net and related programs, including the four largest federal rental assistance programs, into a single block grant to states risks significant funding cuts to housing assistance that helps 4.7 million low-income families, as we...
Helping Renters Afford Their Homes
July 16, 2014
Today’s New York Times “Room for Debate” forum asks “Should Housing Policy Support Renters More?” It’s an important discussion since, as we explain in this chart book, federal housing policy is imbalanced in two...
House Restriction on Housing Vouchers Would Harm Low-Income Residents of Oil and Gas Boomtowns
June 19, 2014
The House adopted an amendment offered by Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) to limit subsidies in the Housing Choice Voucher program. The amendment, attached to the House 2015 funding bill for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD), would weaken state and local housing agencies’ ability to adapt to rental markets in individual communities. Some of its worst effects...
Tax-Credit Bill Would Help Low-Income Families Facing Higher Rents
April 17, 2014
House Ways and Means Committee member Charles Rangel (D-NY) has introduced legislation to establish a new federal tax credit to help low-income renters afford housing. As we’ve explained, a renters’ credit along these lines would...
Obama Plan to Raise Rents on Rural Poor is the Wrong Way to Save Money
April 11, 2014
About 42,000 extremely poor families — 15 percent of those assisted through the Agriculture Department’s (USDA) rural rental assistance program — could face rent increases of up to $600 a year under a proposal in President Obama’s 2015 budget.
Today, families with rural rental assistance must pay 30 percent of their income for rent and utilities. The President’s proposal would require...
Ryan Budget Mischaracterizes Housing Vouchers, Then Sets the Stage to Cut Them
April 4, 2014
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan used a faulty number to argue that “Section 8” Housing Choice Voucher program costs have risen excessively. His budget documents also float a proposed expansion of the Moving to Work (MTW) demonstration that could lay the groundwork for deep, harmful cuts in the voucher program in years to come. That program, which helps 2.1 million low-income...