Affordable housing may join welfare reform

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April 2002

Affordable housing may join welfare reform
Campaign finance reform finally becomes law, faces new challenge
Farm bill hits new roadblocks, finds new scandal
On the slippery slope to "Fast Track" FTAA
U.S. bishops call for prohibition of human cloning
U.S. could be doing more for world's poor, say bishops

Affordable housing may join welfare reform
As the consequences of 1996's welfare reform continue to be evaluated, many analysts have found that while one-time welfare families may have been able to increase their incomes, they often remain unable to afford basic necessities. Finding affordable housing, for example, remains a major hurdle.

As a result, a broad coalition of not-for-profit groups, including Catholic Charities USA, is lobbying Congress for a national housing trust fund. Over 150 state and municipal governments already employ such a fund, aimed at preserving or rehabilitating existing affordable housing or developing new sites for low-income housing.

Currently the trust fund legislation, H.R. 2349, is under consideration in the House of Representatives with 147 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle. A similar bill in the Senate, S. 1248, has 19 cosponsors. The legislation would provide permanent, dedicated funding for the trust fund, drawing from surplus budget allocations to the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and Ginnie Mae, a government program that assists low-income families in purchasing a home. Other sources of funding are being investigated.

If passed, National Housing Trust Fund legislation would provide housing assistance mainly to those making 30 percent of median area incomes or less. About one third of the fund would be used to provide assistance to those making minimum wage, and any remaining funds would be distributed to those families making 80 percent or less of the area's median income.

Funds would be distributed to not-for-profits, states, and local governments in cooperation with the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Housing that is built or restored with trust fund money would be required to remain low-income housing for the duration of the building's useful life.

The goal of the campaign is to provide 1,500,000 new or rehabilitated units of affordable housing by 2010.

The Catholic church, in its many national and local capacities, is historically one of the largest providers of housing and shelter to America's poor, and the basic right to such shelter is a critical tenet in Catholic social teaching. The National Housing Trust Fund is a legislative priority for the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops this year.—Tara Dix

For more information:
USCCB issue briefing
Catholic Charities USA

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