NCH OPPOSES THE COMMITTEE-PASSED VERSION OF H.R. 840

The National Coalition for the Homeless has been an active participant in the effort by Congress to pass a long-overdue reauthorization of the homeless assistance programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Senate moved first, with the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee approving the Community Partnership to End Homelessness Act (S. 1518) in September 2007. NCH does not support the Senate measure as it falls short of our recommendations in a number of areas, including the definition of homelessness, set-asides, bonuses, and incentives, and consumer and provider participation in application development.

NCH held higher hopes in the House, where the base reauthorization bill, the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act (H.R. 840), aligned closely with NCH’s longstanding principles on homeless assistance and HUD homeless programs. Further, the bill closely followed provisions within the Bringing America Home Act (H.R. 4347 of the 109th Congress), legislation which NCH played a central role in crafting. Regrettably, the House Financial Services Committee approved an amended version of the HEARTH Act that deviates too sharply from the original measure.

NCH has pushed for a HUD homeless assistance program reauthorization anchored on three fundamental principles: 1) all persons experiencing homelessness in our nation – whether there living arrangement is the street, a shelter, a motel, or shared housing – should be eligible for HUD homeless assistance; 2) consumers and service providers should have bona fide decision-making roles in the development of  their geographic area’s application for HUD homeless funding; and 3) geographic areas should receive maximum flexibility in their selection of homeless assistance projects across the full continuum of shelter, housing, and support services.

The original HEARTH Act met NCH’s criteria. However, in the “sausage making” typical of law-making, the committee-approved version of the HEARTH Act has ballooned into a complexity of prohibitions, exceptions, set-asides, bonuses, incentives, and studies—a far cry from the streamlined and consolidated approach envisioned by the original measure.

Read NCH’s letter to the Financial Services Committee leadership recommending further work on the HEARTH Act before the bill is brought to a vote by the full House of Representatives.

For more information on this, or any policy issue, please contact Bob Reeg at breeg@nationalhomeless.org