Arizona leaders seek fix to outdated housing voucher aid
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Arizona and Nevada elected officials are teaming up in hopes of changing how the federal government doles out housing assistance.
Why it matters: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development currently uses population counts from the 2000 U.S. Census to divvy up coveted Housing Choice Vouchers, which cap rent at 30% of a household's income.
- The outdated formula punishes cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas, which have seen significant population growth since the turn of the century, the lawmakers argue.
The big picture: Most Arizona housing agencies — especially those in the Valley — do not have enough federal vouchers to meet the demand.
- It's not uncommon for low-income Arizonans to wait months or even years for a voucher.
- Rapid rent increases over the past decade have only exacerbated the issue.
State of play: U.S. Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly and their Nevada counterparts introduced legislation last month to modernize the voucher system by allocating an additional $2 billion to support affordable housing in the nation's 25 fastest-growing big cities. A similar bill was introduced in the U.S. House by Arizona Democrats Greg Stanton and Yassamin Ansari and Dina Titus of Nevada.
- This would boost voucher supply in metro areas including Houston, Atlanta, Jacksonville and Charlotte in addition to Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Zoom in: The bill is supported by the National Association of Realtors, National Housing Law Project, Arizona Housing Coalition and the city of Phoenix's housing department.
- "As Phoenix continues to grow, it becomes evident that our current voucher allocation does not adequately address the needs of the fifth largest city in the nation," Phoenix housing director Titus Mathew said in a statement. "There has never been a greater need for affordable housing than the present."
Stunning stat: Using the current formula, Phoenix, the nation's fifth largest city, receives 7,487 vouchers annually while Philadelphia (the nation's sixth largest city) gets 22,000.
- It's not clear exactly how many vouchers the proposed legislation would bring to Phoenix, but the $2 billion allocation would be required to address the "historical shortfall" in fast-growing cities, per the bill language.
Reality check: The bill faces an uphill road. The Trump administration has been looking for opportunities to cut federal spending — not expand it.
- Gallego introduced a similar bill while serving in the U.S. House last year to no avail.
What we're watching: Even if renters qualify for housing vouchers, they can struggle to find landlords willing to accept them.
- The Valley's housing shortage means landlords often have their pick of many interested renters and prefer those who don't come with the extra paperwork and bureaucratic hurdles associated with housing vouchers.
- Phoenix, Tempe and Tucson have enacted ordinances that prohibit landlords from discriminating based on a tenant's "source of income," but statewide efforts at the Legislature failed in recent years.