Connie Mack: “I am today introducing, along with Senators D'Amato, Bond, Faircloth, and Grams, the Public Housing Reform and…”

“I am today introducing, along with Senators D'Amato, Bond, Faircloth, and Grams, the Public Housing Reform and Responsibility Act of 1997. This bill is similar to public and assisted housing reform legislation, S. 1260, that was introduced in the 104th Congress and passed unanimously by the Senate. The Public Housing Reform and Responsibility Act of 1997 addresses a public housing system fraught with counterproductive rules and regulations that make it impossible for even the best run public housing authorities [PHA's] to operate effectively and efficiently. It will help to make public housing a platform from which residents can achieve the goal of economic independence and self-sufficiency. In addition, it promotes increased residential choice and mobility by increasing opportunities for residents to use tenant-based assistance. Most public housing today serves only the poorest of the poor--on average those with incomes at 17 percent of area median. The gap between tenant rent contributions and the cost of operating public housing is growing wider than the ability of Federal housing subsidy funds to close it. PHA's are denied the flexibility necessary to maintain the existing supply of public housing in decent and safe condition, and in some cases are even constrained from demolishing vacant or nonviable public housing developments.”