June 5th Workshop builds momentum
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Click here to sign on to the SEVRA Letter of Support
Deadline to endorse is June 18, 2009.
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To sign on click here [Email address: rbrown #AT# njaneh.org - replace #AT# with @ ] to send an email or submit via a fax at 908-382-6309.
On Friday June 5, 2009, more than forty (40) elected officials, housing authority leaders and passionate advocates attended a forum on the Section Eight Voucher Reform Act (SEVRA) sponsored by the New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness and the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. Will Fischer of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) presented on the current status of SEVRA as well as the benefits to the community. Mr. Fischer is a Senior Policy Analyst who joined CBPP in 2002.
This is an issue that was included in last year’s Congressional Report Card and will be included in the 2009 edition as well. Five members of Congress had senior staff attended the forum – Senator Lautenberg, Senator Menendez, Congressman Payne, Congressman Lance and Congressman Adler.
SEVRA makes a number of important reforms that would strengthen the Section 8 voucher program as a tool for helping low-income families in New Jersey afford housing.
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First, it establishes a permanent voucher renewal funding formula that is directly tied to local conditions, which is a big improvement over the uneven policies that existed prior to 2007. (It also avoids the uncertainty that occurs when such an important policy is left to be made each year in the appropriations act, as has been the case in recent years.) This will provide housing agencies in our area with the stability and security they need to help more families afford housing with the available federal funds.
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Second, the bill streamlines the rules relating to rents in the voucher program as well as in public and other assisted housing. Currently, there are too many complicated calculations that must be made, which are administratively cumbersome and lack the proper incentives. The reforms in SEVRA will simplify the process substantially, while encouraging tenants to increase their work effort through a new earnings disregard.
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Third, the bill streamlines the housing inspection process in the voucher program, which will benefit housing agencies, property owners, and tenants alike, while still ensuring that reasonable quality standards are met.
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Fourth, the bill expands use of “project-based” vouchers, which can be tied to particular buildings and used for purposes such as developing supportive housing for the formerly homeless and people with mental and physical disabilities.
Together, these and other reforms in the bill will make the voucher program run more efficiently and better serve the families with children, elderly, and people with disabilities in New Jersey and across the nation who struggle to cope with the high cost of housing.
Materials
To read the testimony Will Fischer’s testimony on the bill click here.
For an overview of SEVRA click here.
For a side-by-side analysis off SEVRA is available by click here.
Later this week will publish a link to the PowerPoint. Until then we have audio from the June 5th forum.
