Apartment Trends Magazine November / December 2015 | Page 72

APARTMENT ADVOCATE
NATIONAL APARTMENT ASSOCIATION

Affordable Housing Gets Multiple
Hearings on Capitol Hill

T

he House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing held a hearing on
Oct. 21 on the “Housing Opportunity
Through Modernization Act of 2015,”
which provides common-sense reforms to federal affordable housing programs. The hearing
provided a rare glimpse of bipartisanship, with
both Subcommittee Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) and Ranking Member Emanuel
Cleaver (D-MO) speaking in favor of the bill. The
full House Financial Services Committee also
held a hearing on Oct. 22 that examined whether legislative changes are needed to help ensure
affordability and promote self-reliance and upward
economic mobility.
NAA/NMHC’s concerns regarding inefficient government programs, local obstacles to
development and income stagnation were mirrored by House Financial Services Committee
Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) in his statement. “There can be no real progress in the cause
of affordable housing without a recognition that

government policies are often the impediment,”
Hensarling acknowledged.
In addition, Republican and Democratic lawmakers at both hearings highlighted the need for
the United States to develop a more balanced
housing policy where public private partnerships
could be utilized to preserve, rehabilitate and
develop rental housing.

HEARINGS AND APARTMENT
RENTAL HOUSING IN-DEPTH:
House Financial Services Subcommittee on
Housing
NAA/NMHC joined with a real estate coalition
in offering our support for the reforms to federal
affordable housing policy for the Oct. 21 hearing.
In particular, we are pleased that the legislation
permits immediate tenant occupancy reducing the
length of time a unit is vacant.
We also emphasized our support for the bill’s

streamlining of resident eligibility certifications and
the fact that it allows changes to the project-based
program. That includes extending the contract term
for project-based vouchers from 15 to 20 years.
Full House Financial Services Committee
For the Oct. 22 hearing, NAA/NMHC outlined key solutions to the nation’s affordable housing challenges. In a letter submitted for the record,
we urged lawmakers to pass tax extenders legislation that would renew several key provisions to
support affordable housing. We also reiterated the
need for access to capital in all markets at all times,
common sense reforms to the Section 8 Housing
Choice Voucher program, and continued funding
of the FHA multifamily programs.
More importantly, we underscored that the
demand for affordable housing cannot be met by
government programs alone, emphasizing that
local, state and federal collaborations, and partnerships between the public and private sectors, are
critical in addressing this issue.

Unexpected emergency?
Call Rainbow International for expert commercial restoration response.

PLEASANT ODORS
HELP LEASE UNITS
ODOR CONTROL SPECIALISTS

719-260-7983
70 | TRENDS • NOV/DEC 2015

Water Mitigation
Rapid Structural Drying
Fire & Smoke Restoration
Contents Management
Mold Remediation

7476 S. Eagle St., Unit G,
Centennial, CO 80112
Certified and Insured

Trauma Clean-Up
Odor Removal
Air Duct Cleaning
Carpet Cleaning

303-699-7111

www.rainbowdenver.com

Independently owned & operated franchise

www.aamdhq.org