Joint Statement from Housing Groups on Public Housing Funding in the FY11 Budget

The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA), National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), and the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association (PHADA) join together in asking budget negotiators to recognize the vital importance of public housing as they work to reach agreement on an FY11 spending package.

Public housing serves our nation's most critical housing needs and provides safe, affordable homes to over 1 million low income American households. The average annual income of a public housing family is $13,404, and more than half of those families include a family member who is elderly or disabled. Public housing meets an essential need that would otherwise go unmet in nearly every community in the United States.

The proposed cuts to public housing would take away nearly half of the funding that public housing agencies need to preserve and maintain public housing units at a time where an estimated $20 to $30 billion backlog in deferred maintenance exists. Historic underfunding of public housing programs means these cuts would come from an already insufficient level of funding.

A reasonable level of funding for public housing preservation will not only preserve critically needed affordable housing for very low income families, but such funding can also create jobs and stimulate local, state, and national economies. A recent Econsult report found that every dollar public housing agencies spent in Recovery Act Capital Funds generated $3.12 in economic activity nationwide.

CLPHA, NAHRO, NLIHC, and PHADA urge budget negotiators to provide the level of funding necessary for public housing to be preserved in quality condition, and to be maintained and managed in a way that it can continue to meet the needs of its most vulnerable, low income residents.

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The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities is a national non-profit organization that works to preserve and improve public and affordable housing through advocacy, research, policy analysis and public education. Its 70 members represent virtually every major metropolitan area in the country. Together, these housing authorities manage more than 40 percent of the nation's public housing program, administer more than 26 percent of the Housing Choice Voucher program, and operate a wide array of other housing and service programs.

National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, established in 1933, is a membership organization of 23,000 housing and community development agencies and professionals throughout the United States whose mission is to create affordable housing and safe, viable communities that enhance the quality of life for all Americans, especially those of low- and moderate-income.

Established in 1974 by Cushing N. Dolbeare, the National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that assures people with the lowest incomes in the United States have affordable and decent homes.