Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the gentlewoman from California's amendment.
Mr. Chairman, in New York City access to safe and affordable housing is a critical issue. Just in Brooklyn, the city's housing shortage has driven rents to over $2,500 a month for a 1-bedroom apartment. As a result, a majority of households spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, making these individuals and families rent burdened.
For this reason, the New York City Housing Authority, the Nation's largest public housing authority, provides a home to more than 4,000 New Yorkers. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of families remain on waiting lists for units.
Congress cannot dictate market rents, but we can change Federal programs empowering public housing authorities to address budgetary shortfalls, adapt to changing conditions, and better assist current and prospective tenants. That is why we provided the Secretary the ability to adjust the over-income threshold for public housing tenancy, to assist those tenants and families living in public housing where rents and incomes are well above average, like New York.
While this bill makes several reforms like these to public housing and Section 8 rental assistance, many of which are bipartisan and have been discussed for years, I am concerned about the bill's impact on families with children.
According to a recent study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, H.R. 3700's changes to the childcare deduction could cost 52,000 families with children to face a rent increase of $25 or more.
More than half the families affected are extremely low income and would be hard pressed to afford such an increase. Mr. Chair, $25, $50, or $75 might not sound like a lot of money for us, but for low-income families that have to struggle every day, this is a lot of money.
While updating and improving our Nation's rental assistance and public housing programs are important goals--one I will continue fighting for--they cannot be accomplished on the backs of the Nation's children.
I, therefore, urge adoption of the gentlewoman's amendment, which will strike the burdensome childcare deduction language.
I am very impressed with the chairman today. I hope that from now on we can work in a bipartisan, humane way to address the issues of the shortage of housing in our Nation. I congratulate the ranking member.
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