Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is leading his fellow Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Democrats in a letter expressing opposition to another proposed rule change in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) concerning rental assistance.
A new notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) put forth by HUD would allow the implementation of work requirements and term limits on rental assistance, specifically allowing public housing authorities (PHAs) and some private landlords to require work-eligible adults (ages 18-61) to work for up to 40 hours per week in order to continue receiving public housing benefits or rental assistance through the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), Project-Based Voucher (PBV), or Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) programs.
The proposed term limit would allow PHAs and eligible owners to limit the duration a household can receive rental assistance to "no less than two years" under public housing, HCVs, PBVs, or PBRA.
"This NPRM exceeds HUD's statutory authority and would exacerbate the current housing crisis," Sen. Gallego wrote. "If finalized, the proposed rule would weaken the nation's social safety net without meaningfully addressing the fundamental barriers to workforce participation and economic stability. It would also undermine affordable access to housing for American families, including those who work irregular hours, attend education programs, or provide care to loved ones. We urge you to withdraw the NPRM."
Sen. Gallego continued, "There are many ways to improve housing affordability for Americans, and implementing an arbitrary, punitive proposal to kick families out of housing and cut off their benefits at a time when housing is more unaffordable than ever is not one of them."
Last week, the Arizona Senator led another letter opposing a different HUD proposal that would remove pre-purchase housing counseling from the list of eligible activities covered by the Comprehensive Housing Counseling (CHC) and the Housing Counseling Training (HCT) programs.
