Congress Halts Forced Labor for Public-Housing Tenants
By Kenny Schaeffer

Following months of spirited resistance from public-housing residents, particularly in New York City, Congress has halted--at least for the next year--the controversial requirement that tenants in federally subsidized buildings perform unpaid "community service" or face eviction.

The legislation comes in the form of an amendment to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s budget for fiscal 2002, prohibiting HUD from spending any money to implement the work requirement. It was introduced by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), who represents Harlem.

Vic Bach, policy analyst at the Community Service Society, welcomed the news, calling the "forced labor" requirement "an insult to public-housing residents." Under it, public-housing residents who are not working full-time and are not elderly or disabled would have had do eight hours per month of community service without pay.

"This is a huge victory for the Public Housing Resident Alliance, who organized and won this fight," declares Adrienne Holder, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s civil appeals and law-reform unit, who has worked extensively on public-housing issues. "Credit also goes to Congressman Charlie Rangel, who led the fight in Washington, along with Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, who spoke to their colleagues on the housing and banking committees."

No other recipients of federal housing aid, who include middle-class and even wealthy Americans, are subject to a requirement of this kind. They simply have to pay their rent and meet the other reasonable obligations of tenancy.

The victory, while cause for celebration, is not the end of the story, as Holder points out. The requirement was just nullified for the coming year. The next step is to repeal it entirely, along with the other onerous provisions of the Housing Quality Act of 1998. That law, sponsored by former Long Island Republican Rep. Rick Lazio, includes provisions aiming to force low-income tenants out of public housing and replace them with middle-income tenants, as well as privatization measures that would lead toward getting the government entirely out of the business of meeting society’s housing needs.

"The next step is passing the Public Housing Tenants Respect Act, which repeals the worst provisions of the Lazio law," declares Holder. That bill was also introduced by Rangel.