Section 8 Housing Voucher Reform
The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program provides rental housing assistance to 2 million low-income American families. As a result of the economic crisis and increases in foreclosures and homelessness, the Section 8 program is more important now than ever before.
I introduced the Section Eight Voucher Reform Act of 2009 (H.R. 3045) legislation to reform, improve and expand Section 8 so it can help meet the needs of American families facing economic challenges.
H.R. 3045 establishes a stable, fair and cost-effective funding system for the Section 8 program and ensures that no tenant is ever at risk of losing housing assistance due to unexpected budget shortfalls. It would also restore previous assistance levels by authorizing 150,000 new vouchers.
More on Section 8 Housing Voucher Reform
The cuts were brought on by the so-called "sequester": automatic reductions in federal spending that began in March as a result of Congress' inability to agree on long-term budget cuts.
But as the California congresswoman prepares to become the top Democrat on the House Financial Services panel, she is engaging in an aggressive outreach effort with some of the very institutions that she has heavily criticized for their role in the financial crisis and recent home foreclosure scandals.
From organizing industry roundtables to one-on-one meetings with Wells Fargo's CEO to holding fundraisers targeting banking donors, Waters is opening the door to big banks and Wall Street.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee and a top congressional advocate for affordable housing, reintroduced H.R. 1209, The Section 8 Voucher Reform Act (SEVRA), late last week. The bill would reform the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program, which provides rental housing assistance to 2 million low-income American families.
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