Andy Barr: “I thank the chairman. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3700, which is a modest but important first step to…”

“I thank the chairman. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3700, which is a modest but important first step to improving Federal housing policy through several commonsense reforms. For the first time in HUD's 50-year history, there will now be a flexible formula directing over-income families to pay greater shares of their subsidized rents or to move out of public housing. Incomes and assets will be reevaluated to target assistance to those who are truly in need. There are wait lists across the country for scarce public housing resources and Section 8 vouchers. I have listened to homeless advocates and to my constituents at the Lexington Housing Authority in Kentucky about the waiting lists that exist in my own district. A 2015 HUD audit found that 25,000 families had incomes too high to qualify for assistance; yet the families remained in taxpayer subsidized housing. Some of those families actually derived income from renting other residential properties that they, themselves, owned. One family highlighted in the report had a combined income of $498,000. Policy failures such as these not only waste taxpayer dollars, but, more importantly, they hurt those in need who might otherwise have roofs over their heads. I hope this bipartisan initiative is a down payment on the further reform of Federal housing programs.…”