Joseph Knollenberg: “I strongly support the rule and the underlying bill. This bill repeals an outdated, depression-era law and puts the…”

“I strongly support the rule and the underlying bill. This bill repeals an outdated, depression-era law and puts the power and responsibility where it belongs, in the hands of local communities and residents, not the Washington bureaucrats. I am especially pleased with the provisions, that reform the Brooke amendment. Simply put, our current policy under the Brooke amendment punishes work and rewards welfare dependency. Here is how: Public housing rent is calculated at 30 percent of a resident's income. Thus, the more you earn, the more you pay. But if you go to work, you pay income and FICA taxes, in addition to higher rent, and also begin to lose welfare, foodstamp, and medicaid payments. Nine times out of ten, residents who find gainful employment, end up with less disposable income than if they had simply stayed on welfare. In fact the, highest marginal tax rate in the United States is not paid by millionaires or people in boardrooms, it is paid by AFDC-dependent public housing residents who accept a full-time minimum wage job.”