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Income-based housing benefit: Difference between revisions
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The report notes: "This work is made possible in part by generous grants from Meyer Memorial Trust and by gifts from individuals and organizations."
<blockquote>''"In total, federal rent assistance programs helped about 51,000 Oregon households in 2018 — significant but well short of covering existing needs. In 2017, the year of most recent data, about 290,000 renter households in Oregon met the definition of being cost burdened, devoting more than 30 percent of their income towards housing. Of these, 149,000 were severely cost-burdened, paying more than 50 percent of their income on housing."''</blockquote> <blockquote>''"About three in four renter households in Oregon eligible for a housing voucher don’t receive one.41 Waitlists are closed in many Oregon communities — including the two most populous counties, Multnomah and Washington — and have been for years. When Oregonians are able to get on a waitlist the average wait time is more than two years to get a voucher."''</blockquote> <blockquote>''"Many states, Oregon included, have small state-funded rent assistance programs that target specific populations, such as seniors or the chronically homeless. "''</blockquote> <blockquote>''"Massachusetts is an example of a state with a broader rent assistance program, one aimed at low-income people. Through a combination of tenant- and project-based vouchers, the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program serves over 5,000 low-income households. The program is administered by Public Housing Agencies but overseen by the state housing agency."''</blockquote>
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<br/> <br/> <br/> The idea was supported by Multnomah County Commissioner for District 2 (N and NE Portland), Susheela Jayapal in a Nov 3, 2019 editorial in ''The Oregonian, ''"Opinion: It’s time for a statewide rental voucher program." The Oregonian. Nov 03, 2019. [see Jayapal 2019]. ▼
The proposal was commented on by Margot Black, founder and now co-chair of Portland Tenants Union
www.pdxtu.org, in a September 29 Twitter conversation:
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<blockquote>''"It’s time for a statewide rental voucher program.''</blockquote> <blockquote>''"For decades, the federal government played a crucial role in preventing homelessness. Federal rent vouchers helped make housing affordable by subsidizing rents for people who would otherwise not have been able to afford it. This approach worked. Studies show federal rent vouchers help seniors, families with children and people with disabilities stay housed.Unfortunately, over the past few decades, the federal government has shirked this responsibility. The wait list for federal vouchers in Multnomah County is thousands of people long. In addition, the wait to get into public housing is at least two years and can be more than 10 years."''</blockquote> <blockquote>''"National studies continue to show that long-term rent vouchers are the quickest, most effective way to keep people housed and out of that downward spiral."''</blockquote> <blockquote>''"And a voucher program is something we can act on right now, while we also pursue other important strategies that might take several years to bear fruit — like building more affordable apartments."''</blockquote>
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