Housing Vouchers Step In the Right Direction for Welfare Reform by Lew Sichelman President Clinton's final budget will include $690 million for housing vouchers that will help 120,000 of the lowest income families in every state obtain desperately needed and affordable housing. The proposal for fiscal 2001, which beings Oct. 1, would provide rental assistance in the form of housing vouchers. Families receiving the vouchers generally pay 30 percent of their incomes for rent, with the Department of Housing and Urban Development picking up the rest. Housing vouchers are in integral part of the Administration's efforts to reform welfare, reward work, support working families and provide affordable housing for low-income people. About 1.4 million families currently receive vouchers under HUD's tenant-based Section 8 rental assistance program. The budget request will be the largest on behalf of affordable housing in a decade. The thinking is that with the vouchers, working families will be able to find homes closer to their jobs in the suburbs. Homeless people also would be eligible for the vouchers, which would help get them off the street and move one step closer to productive lives. However, even if the President's plan wins approval from Congress and that's not a sure thing, by any means there would still be more than 1 million families on waiting lists for HUD-subsidized housing throughout the country. At Mr. Clinton's request, Congress approved $283 million for new affordable hosuing units for fiscal 1999. But that was after four consecutive years of refusing to clear any nw affordable housing vouchers. For fiscal 2000, Congress upped the ante, okaying an additional $347 million in new vouchers. Together, though, the $627 million is enough to help just 110,000 people find decent and inexpensive housing. | 
