July 13, 2023
The Honorable Patty Murray, Chair
Senate Appropriations Committee
The Honorable Brian Schatz, Chair
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, Development and Related Agencies
The Honorable Susan Collins, Vice Chair
Senate Appropriations Committee
The Honorable Cindy Hyde-Smith, Ranking Member
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, Development and Related Agencies
Re: Provisions in the 2024 Appropriations Act to support choice and mobility in the Housing Choice Voucher program
Dear Chairwoman Murray, Vice Chairwoman Collins, Chairman Schatz, and Ranking Member Hyde-Smith:
We, the undersigned housing and civil rights organizations, write to urge the Appropriations Committee to include two key reforms that will help more families successfully use their Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) and access lower poverty neighborhoods.1 Today, a large number of voucher families with children are concentrated in high poverty neighborhoods,2 and are prevented from accessing communities of their choice by multiple barriers, including the requirement of an initial security deposit to rent, lack of information and housing search assistance, and reluctance by many property owners to accept Section 8 payments.
See the full pdf letter here.
