In response to the state’s current economic crisis, Governor Jon Corzine on January 5, 2009 proposed an $812 million cut to the state budget. As part of that proposal, $47 million that had been set aside as escrow funds for project-based state rental assistance units will instead go toward the general budget.
Thanks to a timely report by the Housing and Community Development Network, it is now clear that no one whose housing is currently subsidized by the state rental assistance program (SRAP) will lose their homes because of the measure.
No one who currently has a tenant-based SRAP voucher will lose it, according to the Governor’s proposal. Project-based SRAP vouchers, formerly funded through an escrow account, will now be funded on an annual basis as part of the budget process. The state Department of Community Affairs (DCA), which oversees both facets of the program, has committed to the Housing and Community Development Network that no organization that is currently receiving project-based vouchers will lose them. Despite moving $47 million, the SRAP program is expected to continue to operate at its current levels.
SRAP began with $10 million in 2005. Over the subsequent years funding has been increased to $25 million, then $37.5 million and, in the FY09 budget, SRAP received a historic $52.5 million in funding. In June, 2008, SRAP was one of the few programs to receive an increase in funding in a year where many programs received funding cuts. With the current foreclosure crisis and unemployment increasing, SRAP is needed now more than ever. The Advocacy Network to End Homelessness and the Housing and Community Development Network will continue their advocacy to both improve the efficiency of the program and maintain funding levels.
Other DCA programs that will experience funding cuts, according to the Governor’s proposal, include the Smart Future Planning Grants program, will which stop awarding grants in 2009, saving $1.885 million, and the Lead Hazard Assistance Control Fund, which will use $6 million less than appropriated.
To view a summary of Governor Corzine’s proposed budgets cuts, click here.
