Glenn Grothman: “First of all, I would like to clarify something in the amendment. The amendment does not apply to people who were…”

“First of all, I would like to clarify something in the amendment. The amendment does not apply to people who were receiving rental assistance--and neither did the other amendment--prior to October 1 of this year. It is not a matter of kicking people out; it is a matter of not putting any further people on. Furthermore, I think we have to discuss how generous this benefit is. There are so many people in our society who are living with parents, living with other family members, living with roommates, and working to afford that rent. To give somebody a freestanding apartment--some of these are very nice apartments, two-bedroom, two-bath, air-conditioned apartments--without having to work at all to receive that apartment is just a horrible incentive. I would ask the gentleman to go back in his district and talk to people who live in the neighborhoods where they have these subsidized projects. One of the things I find is that sometimes people who live in maybe high-end areas and are not familiar with these get confused. I think, if you talk to people who know people who live in this subsidized housing, you will have no problem finding many anecdotes of people who are clearly not hurting materially; and, in order to keep their subsidies going, they cannot work, work harder, or get raises. Above all, they can't get married.…”