Tom Harkin: “in June of 2004, an article appeared in the Des Moines Register outlining serious systemic abuses of the section 8…”

“in June of 2004, an article appeared in the Des Moines Register outlining serious systemic abuses of the section 8 program by a number of wealthy athletes at the University of Iowa. For example, Brian Ferentz, a Hawkeye football player, was found to be living in subsidized housing despite the fact that his father, Kirk Ferentz, lives in a million- dollar mansion in the same town and is paid $2 million a year to coach his team. To add insult to injury, Brian's scholarship actually included a $700-per-month stipend for housing, yet he was living in section 8 housing. After reading about this abuse, I immediately wrote to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, urging him to close this loophole, which was the unintended consequence of a 1995 regulation allowing students to qualify for section 8, in order to help people of modest means have a chance at an education and to better themselves. Unfortunately, HUD's response was far from adequate. HUD's solution allowed students who live away from home for just a year into the program, if their parents stopped claiming them on their taxes. It is a pretty easy calculation to see that a simple deduction is worth less than a year's rent, so it is easy for parents to decide to stop claiming their otherwise dependant children in order to save money. Fortunately, language was included in the final omnibus appropriations bill last year closing a little more of this loophole.…”