House Overwhelmingly Passes Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2007

Press Release

House Overwhelmingly Passes Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2007

Washington, DC - The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 1851, the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2007, Sponsored by Congresswoman Maxine Waters with a bipartisan vote of 333 to 83, to reform the Section 8 funding formula to make it more efficient and revise the rent calculation process for Section 8 and public housing to expand work incentives and reduce administrative costs. In addition, the bill will increase flexibility to use vouchers for homeownership, amend voucher targeting rules to increase voucher opportunities for lower income working families in rural areas, and authorize an expansion in the number of families receiving vouchers by 20,000 a year for each of the next five years. The measure now moves to the Senate for consideration.

"This is a program we can all be proud of. This bill addresses many of those problems and will return much-needed stability to the Section 8 program and the 2 million low-income families who rely upon it," said Rep. Waters (D-CA). "We are reestablishing a program that changes lives by providing clean, safe, and affordable housing, improve the health of families, introduce better educational opportunities for children in school, improve communities, and strengthen the face of the nation's affordable housing landscape."

"At last, we have a bill that brings this country's Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program into the 21st Century," said Rep. Biggert (R-IL), an original cosponsor of the bill. "Besides providing more flexibility at the local level, where it's needed most, this bill will expand and enhance the programs that help public housing recipients move to self-sufficiency and to homeownership."

"I'm especially pleased that we addressed the special needs of seniors and people with disabilities," continued Biggert, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. "In all, there is much to like in this bill, and that's why it received overwhelmingly strong bipartisan support."

The House also voted to adopt Rep. Waters' manager's amendment, to allow flexibility in rent setting while maintaining statutory affordability requirements, increase the level of permitted voucher reserves in the first year of the transition under the funding formula change, spell-out responsibilities for HUD to provide uniform translation of documents under the Administration's Limited English Proficiency (LEP) requirements, and make modifications to inspection and Housing Innovation Program (HIP) provisions in the bill.

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