Last year, Congress passed welfare legislation, making deep cuts in welfare and food stamp payments, which further exacerbates housing affordability. The track record of this Congress is no better. Just recently, the House passed a spending bill that continues to underfund housing programs and eliminates preservation funding the only program we have to prevent the loss of affordable housing units under expiring Section 8 contracts. Earlier this year I offered my own balanced budget plan a plan that restores funding for homeless programs to pre-recision levels, gives public housing authorities full funding for operating subsidies, and provides funds for 50,000 new vouchers a year. There are other ways we can reestablish our commitment to affordable housing.
Tax policy is one example.
We should also explore new ways to leverage existing resources to maximize their effectiveness. And we need to design and fund a program to preserve housing that would otherwise be lost under Section 8 expiring contracts. We are now reaping the harvest of decades of neglect in meeting our affordable housing needs.