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1 (February 13, 2006)

handle is hein.crs/crsuntaaclk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS22376 February 13, 2006 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Changes to Section 8 Housing Voucher Renewal Funding, FY2003-FY2006 Maggie McCarty Domestic Social Policy Division Summary Changes enacted by Congress during the appropriations process in each of the past several years have significantly altered the way that public housing authorities (PHAs) receive funding to administer the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. Designed to curb growing federal expenditures, these new formulas have resulted in budgets that have not kept up with cost growth for some local agencies and possibly surplus funds for others. The Administration has proposed to reform the program, including the funding formula, each year since FY2003. No legislation has been enacted, but bills were introduced in the 108th Congress and have been introduced in the 109h Congress (H.R. 1999 and S. 771). This report describes changes in the formula that were included in appropriations bills for FY2003 through FY2006; it will not be updated. For more information on the Section 8 voucher program, see CRS Report RL32284, An Overview of the Section 8 Housing Programs, and CRS Report RL33270, The Section 8 Housing Voucher Program: Reform Proposals, both by Maggie McCarty. Each year, Congress provides funding to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to renew the more than 2.1 million Section 8 vouchers - also called Housing Choice Vouchers - authorized by Congress (see Table 1 below). The Section 8 voucher program is federally funded and governed by federal rules, but is administered at the local level by quasi-governmental PHAs. Section 8 vouchers are rental subsidies that low-income families use in the private market to help make up the difference between their rent and their expected contribution toward that rent (30% of adjusted income). The cost of a voucher to a PHA is the difference between the lesser of a tenant's actual rent or the maximum subsidy level set by the PHA - called a payment standard - and 30% of a tenant's income. That cost increases or decreases with changes in tenant incomes and changes in rents and payment standards. In recent years, Congress has enacted, and HUD has implemented, a series of changes in the way that voucher renewal funding is distributed to local PHAs. These changes have led to funding uncertainty for many PHAs, and has put pressure on Congress to adopt a permanent funding formula, possibly through enactment of Section 8 voucher reform legislation. Congressional Research Service + The Library of Congress