One of my top priorities in Congress is to ensure that every Rhode Islander has access to safe and affordable housing. The average two-bedroom apartment in Rhode Island currently rents for $1,172 per month – a cost that could require three full-time, minimum wage jobs to afford. This is an unacceptable reality that families throughout Rhode Island continue to face. I am working with my colleagues in Congress to create innovative solutions to increase the availability of affordable housing and to ensure important public housing and community development programs are fully funded.

Avoiding Foreclosure

As you may know, many homeowners have experienced problems caused by the continuing mortgage crisis, including the risk, or reality, of foreclosure and burdensome taxes on their debt. Under current law, any debt forgiven by a lender is treated as “phantom income” and subject to taxation. At a time when so many families are already in crisis, it is fundamentally unfair to penalize them by taxing money they may recover through refinancing their mortgage or foreclosure of their homes. On October 4, 2007, I voted for the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, which will change the tax code to prevent forgiven mortgage debts from being assessed as gross income. I will continue to monitor this situation and support legislation that will help hard-working families struggling to keep pace with ballooning mortgage payments.

I encourage you to click here if you are at risk of foreclosure or have questions about available resources and assistance.

Section 8 assistance programs

The Section 8 low-income housing assistance program was initially designed in 1974 to provide project-based assistance to public housing authorities, though in recent years assistance comes more in the form of portable housing vouchers. Today, vouchers – numbering more than 2 million – are the primary form of assistance provided under Section 8, although over 1 million units still receive project-based assistance. In recent years the Administration proposed to slash the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program by over 30%. I am proud to have been part of the fight to successfully restore funding to this important program, and I will work to ensure adequate funding for Section 8 programs in the future.

Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG)

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is a flexible program that provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs. For the past several years the Administration has proposed to significantly cut funding to this vital program, which has revitalized communities throughout the nation for over thirty years. At one point the President even proposed to eliminate this program as it exists today. I have consistently fought against these budget cuts and advocated for increased CDBG funding, so that local communities can direct resources where they are most needed.

National affordable housing trust fund

I strongly support the creation of a national affordable housing trust fund, which will create and rehabilitate more than 1 million units of affordable housing nationwide. I have voted for legislation that would create a trust fund to help families with very- or extremely-low incomes, by financing loan loss reserves, revolving loans, and ways to leverage the funding of multiple projects under an investment plan. This trust fund would also encourage homeownership by allocating down payment assistance, closing costs, and assistance for interest rate buy-downs for very-low and extremely-low income and first-time homebuyers.

Encouraging home ownership

Owning a home is part of the American dream. I have supported legislation in Congress that would make this dream a reality for millions of Americans nationwide. I supported the American Dream Downpayment Act, which has since become law, to provide grants to low-income and first-time homebuyers, making it easier for renters to become homeowners. I also support the Zero Downpayment Act, which would guarantee the availability of “no down payment” mortgages to first time and low-income homebuyers.

I remain committed to ensuring that every Rhode Islander is able to live in a safe and affordable home. I will continue to work with my colleagues to craft innovative solutions to increase affordable housing throughout our state.

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