In a telephone call Monday, Housing and Urban Development Assistant Secretary Dennis Shea notified the office of Sen. Jack Reed of the Bush Administration’s plans to change course and reject a proposal that would have cut the number of seniors and working families participating in the program in Rhode Island. The new plan will not be finalized until Friday.
Reed’s office said the Bush administration has proposed reducing the value of vouchers next year in many parts of Rhode Island. The proposal is based on a new formula that averages higher rents in Newport County, South County and less sparse suburban areas with those of more densely populated urban areas, which tend to have lower costs.
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Reed, the ranking member of the Senate Housing Subcommittee, has steadily pressured HUD on behalf of Rhode Island’s low-income renters. At a press conference in East Providence Monday, with representatives from local Housing Authorities, Reed again called on Bush and HUD to reject the proposal.
The Section 8 program provides low-income renters with vouchers to help pay for part of the rent for private apartments to landlords who agree to participate. If the proposed cuts happen, the fear is that some landlords will have little incentive to continue to participate in the program.
