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6,970 additional families could be served!

HUD publishes proposed fair market rents for FY 2009!

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has posted data on voucher utilization rates from 2004-2007 at every public housing agency in the country, and estimates of the number of vouchers agencies have funds to use in 2008. Click here for an updated list of voucher data for New Jersey. CBPP states that “The data could be very useful to advocates — and boards of commissioners — to start a conversation about whether the agency has the funds to serve more families, raise payment standards, or otherwise make the voucher program operate more effectively.”

Housing Voucher Data for New Jersey

Of New Jersey’s 67,029 authorized vouchers, only 90 percent were used by families last year.

This was an improvement over 2006, when the voucher program was underfunded and changes in funding policy undermined the effectiveness of the program. Nevertheless, 2,055 fewer families in New Jersey received assistance in 2007 than in 2004.

This year, housing agencies in New Jersey have sufficient funds, including reserves, to assist 6,970 additional families, thereby using up to 100 percent of their authorized vouchers. To encourage agencies to make efficient use of these resources, agencies must be reassured that voucher renewal funding policy will be both stable and take into account the additional vouchers used by these families. Congress should enact the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act (H.R. 1851 and S. 2684) to provide confidence that renewal funding needs will be met in future years, thereby encouraging agencies to put as many of their vouchers to use as possible.

H.R. 1851 is co-sponsored by Rep. Donald Payne. All members of the New Jersey delegation voted in favor except for Congressman Garrett. The full House approved the bill on June 12, 2008, by a vote of 333-83. S. 2684 is cosponsored by Senator Menendez. The bill has not yet been voted on in the Senate.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on June 12 published for public comment in the Federal Register HUD’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2009 Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for the (Section 8) Housing Choice Voucher Program and the Moderate Read the rest of this entry »

Last week Congress conference agreement on 2008 Farm Bill makes numerous improvements in domestic food assistance programs to help low-income Americans put food on the table in the face of rising food and fuel prices. The changes could provide an additional $9 million in the next fiscal year and could assist an additional 211,000 people by 2012.

The following is from an analysis by Dorothy Rosenbaum for the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. To read her full report click here. To read our prior posts on hunger click here.

The nutrition title of the conference agreement includes more than $10 billion over ten years in increases in these programs - including $7.8 billion for the Food Stamp Program, $1.26 billion for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and $1 billion for the free fresh fruits and vegetable snack program, which is targeted to schools with high shares of low- income families.

The nutrition title of the farm bill would:

End years of erosion in the purchasing power of food stamps by raising and indexing for inflation the program’s standard deduction and minimum benefit.

These changes would help about 11 million low income people, including families with children, seniors, and people with disabilities. With these changes, Food Stamp Program rules would fully account for annual inflation for the first time since the program’s creation over 40 years ago, and food stamp households would stop losing food purchasing power each year.

Support working-poor families by eliminating the cap on the dependent care deduction, Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Advocacy, center for budget and policy priorities, farm bill, food stamp program, Hunger