Tenants in public housing are facing two major threats this year.
The first threat is from their landlord, the New York City Housing Authority. The Housing Authority is preparing to apply to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to be free of all federal regulations. This could give them the freedom to raise rents and demolish or sell their buildings.
The second threat is from Congressman Rick Lazio. A Republican who represents an affluent Long Island district, Lazio is once again threatening to deregulate all public housing. He has sponsored a bill (HR2) that would repeal the Housing Act of 1937 and have other terrible consequences.
The first threat is happening soon. By March 18, the Housing Authority will decide whether or not it will apply to HUD to become totally free of all federal regulations. If HUD approves that application, then the Brooke Amendment,which limits public-housing tenants’ rents to 30% of their income,would no longer apply to New York City. This would allow the Housing Authority to charge whatever rent it can get, meaning that many tenants,especially the poorest ones,could see their rent double.
New York City has a lot to lose. The Housing Authority has 180,000 apartments. It has already announced a plan to reserve most its vacancies for tenants earning over $30,000 a year. Of the city’s 600,000 public-housing tenants, approximately 380,000,almost two-thirds of the total,live on fixed incomes, either on SSI, Social Security, or public assistance. If their rent is increased, these households are likely to have to choose between going hungry or being evicted.
The second threat is from Lazio’s bill, HR2. This bill may come up for a vote in the House of Representatives as early as the end of March.
HR2 would require time limits on how long certain tenants could stay in public housing. Families will be expected to leave public housing after a predetermined number of years.
The bill requires tenants to "graduate" from public housing after completing a "p!an" for "self-sufficiency." Target dates for "graduation" would be incorporated into the self-sufficiency plan and into tenants’ leases. The Housing Authority would be able to evict tenants if they fail to complete the self-sufficiency plan or don’t leave after it has been completed. Residents would also be required to perform up to eight hours a month of "community service," and could also be evicted if they didn’t do that.
HR2 would permit the Housing Authority to demolish and sell developments. Those buildings’ residents could be evicted and be given vouchers to use in the private market. It would also change federal regulations to allow the Housing Authority to exclude tenants from public housing who need it the most and admit upper-income tenants only.
In effect, Lazio’s HR2 would eliminate the 1937 Housing Act, the New Deal legislation that helped establish public housing in the United States, with its goal that every person in this country have a decent affordable home.
To fight against deregulation of the New York City Housing Authority and against Lazio’s bill, HR2, write to Senator Alfonse D’Amato, 520 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510 or call him at (202) 224-6542, fax (202) 224-5871; Hon. Peter Vallone, Speaker of the New York City Council, 22-45 31st Street, Astoria, NY 11105, phone (718) 274-4500; and Hon. Sheldon Silver, Speaker of the New York State Assembly, 270 Broadway, Room 1807, New York, NY 10007, phone (212) 312-1420.