Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson argues that his rent reform bill would address the shortfall of public housing assistance by getting people off rolls and into work, opening up spots for others to take.
“That’s just as effective as building more housing for more people,” Carson told the Washington Examiner.
In an interview Thursday, the former neurosurgeon laid out the case for the “Making Affordable Housing Work Act,” major legislation he announced last week that would overhaul the way rent is calculated for beneficiaries of federal housing benefits throughout the country.
Carson defended the bill proposal from criticism, including the charge from low-income housing advocates that it would raise rents on poor families in no position to absorb any kind of financial setback.
Against the backdrop of a major shortage of housing and federal assistance — Carson has noted that only 1 in 4 renters eligible for federal aid receives it — Carson’s bill would institute major changes to federal rental programs, affecting more than 4.5 million people.
Beneficiaries currently are generally required to pay 30 percent of their income toward rent, with the government making up the difference. As a result, rents rise when beneficiaries’ income rises — effectively a steep tax. One prong of the plan would calculate income on a three-year basis, rather than annually, allowing renters three years to earn more without fearing an increase in rent.
That change, Carson said, would remove a major disincentive to work. It also would allow renters to get married and bring a second earner into the home without being penalized.
The other part of the legislation would be to allow housing authorities across the country to experiment with alternative rent structures, including ones with work requirements.
In Carson’s view, a major overhaul is needed because the system isn’t working. “This is the way we’ve done it for decades, and as a result of that, our poverty level has not gone down,” he said.
The fiercest objections to the bill — Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., called it a “heartless and misguided proposal” — have been directed at the parts that would raise rents on beneficiaries. In particular, the plank that would increase the minimum required rent from $50 to $150 a month.
Higher minimum rents would encourage people to find jobs or better jobs, when coupled with the other provisions in the bill that remove disincentives to work, Carson said.
As for the the elderly and disabled, who make up about half of all beneficiaries, they wouldn’t pay more than they previously did, Carson said. He pledged to adjust the bill to ensure that outcome if necessary.
People with big medical bills also would be held harmless, Carson said. Today, medical expenses are excluded from the calculation of income, but would be pulled into it in the draft bill, which would set a broader definition of income. Carson’s response? “Liberal” exemptions for people who would face hardship. Those would be granted on a case-by-case basis, not written into the bill.
Carson predicted that his legislation would pick up support from low-income housing advocates and others who have criticized it “as they begin to see the purpose of what we’re doing, and stop listening to the wild accusations that are just totally the opposite of what’s going on.”
Getting buy-in from renters’ groups would be key to enacting legislation. To reach President’s Trump desk, any bill would need 60 votes in the Senate. That means at least a chunk of Democratic votes would be needed.
The goal of legislation in an election year is ambitious, but one that Republicans hope is within reach. Rent reform would make up part of the “welfare reform” agenda set out by House Speaker Paul Ryan and talked up by Trump.
Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., a member of the House Financial Services Committee, last week introduced legislation that parallels Carson’s, including by calculating rents on a three-year basis and allowing authorities to try alternatives. In both cases, the overarching change would be to move away from charging rent based on a share of income calculated annually.
The logic of allowing local authorities to set work requirements or otherwise alter the terms of rent is that they have a betters sense of the local population, Carson said, citing the vastly different experiences of rural Alaska and urban Miami.
In 1996, Congress allowed some housing authorities across the country to try different approaches meant to increase work, a demonstration project known as Moving to Work. In Carson’s eyes, that program, now involving 39 authorities, has seen enough success to justify broadening it. To substantiate that conclusion, an agency representative pointed to a 2010 HUD report that concluded that allowing authorities to set rent differently has the potential to reduce costs and boost self-sufficiency.
