[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 94 (Wednesday, July 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1281]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RENEWAL FUNDING FOR HOMELESS RENTAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS

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                          HON. JOHN J. LaFALCE

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 19, 2000

  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, just recently, the President signed into 
law the Military Construction Appropriations conference report. This 
bill includes critically needed funding to renew rental housing 
assistance for very low income disabled, veterans, mentally ill, and 
other families and individuals at risk of homelessness.
  Late last year, some 40 projects nationwide did not receive renewal 
of expiring grants under either the Shelter Plus Care or SHP Permanent 
housing programs as part of the McKinney Act homeless program funding 
awards for fiscal year 1999. As a result, thousands of families--
including 180 in Erie County in the area I represent--were at risk of 
having their entail subsidies expire at some time this year.
  In response, in February of this year, I introduced H.R. 3613, 
legislation to provide emergency one-year funding for these expired and 
unrenewed projects out of the Section 8 Housing Certificate account. 
This legislation was later offered as an amendment by the Ranking 
Member of the VA-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee to the House 
Supplemental Appropriations bill, and the amendment was adopted.
  The good news is that the MilCon conference report provides funding 
to renew all these projects for one year, as proposed in my 
legislation. The bad news is that the Senate rejected the House 
approach of funding renewals from the Section 8 account, instead 
requiring that funding be taken from the fiscal year 2000 homeless 
program account.
  This means that $5 million less in critically needed homeless funds 
will be available later this year under the FY 2000 grant competition.
  It also means that at least for now, we continue the year-to-year 
uncertainty families and grant applicants face with regard to renewals. 
As a result, we continue a policy that is incomprehensible: 
Automatically renewing rental assistance subsidies nationwide for all 
low-income families--with the sole exception being the most vulnerable, 
poorest families who receive rental assistance under the Shelter Plus 
Care and SHP Permanent housing homeless programs.
  This fall, in the VA-HUD conference report, we will have a chance to 
get it right--that is, to renew Shelter Plus Care and SHP permanent 
housing renewals automatically out of the Section 8 account for both 
fiscal year 2000 and fiscal year 2001, and to launch us down the path 
of doing this on a permanent basis in subsequent years.
  Through both the supplemental spending bill and the recently passed 
fiscal year 2001 VA-HUD bill, he House has affirmed its support for 
renewing these grants through the Section 8 account. I urge the Senate 
to accede to this very reasonable approach.
  In any event, I am pleased that this bill gives-at-risk families 
assurance of assistance for another year, while we work out this issue.

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