From: Roll Back The Rents
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SAVE SECTION 8

EMERGENCY

CALL TO ACTION

FORWARD THIS ALERT FAR & WIDE!

MAKE THOSE CALLS NOW! 

The HUD Section 8 Voucher Program budget bill is being voted on in Congress and will be completed by November 20th. This is our last chance to influence our Legislatures to keep our vouchers safe.

Call the Representatives in your area no matter where you may be. Those below are from California.

WE MUST CALL our Congressional Representatives Senators Boxer and Feinstein, and U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee & Lynn Woolsey right away.

Use the toll free Capitol Switchboard at 1-888-818-6641 in Washington and ask for their office. 

We have included:
* The main points for you to cover when you call.
* Their names and contact information
* Additional detailed information (if you are interested in reading it)

The main points: 

Ask each person to support the following points regarding the 2005 HUD Section 8 Budget bill: (for an explanation read page 3 of this letter)
* Support the Senate version – NOT the House version of the bill
* Support adequate funding to cover all Section 8 vouchers
* Strengthen the language of the Senate version to require HUD to distribute funds to housing agencies in a way that covers the real cost of the vouchers
* Urge the removal of section 224 from the Senate bill, which prohibits housing agencies from engaging in or encouraging voter registration

It is best to call the Washington office phone numbers.

When you call the Legislatures – Feinstein, Boxer and Woolsey on the list provided – ask to speak to the person dealing with the Section 8 Budget bill, if possible.

Ask the person you speak with to deliver the above points to each of the legislatures you call – Feinstein, Boxer and Woolsey.

Then ask that each Feinstein, Boxer and Woolsey - deliver the points to the following important Congressional members.  

Kit Bond, Chair, VA-HUD Senate Appropriations Sub Committee

Barbara Mikulski, Ranking Minority Member, VA-HUD Senate Appropriations Sub-Committee

Jim Walsh, Chair, VA-HUD House Appropriations Sub Committee

Alan Mollohan, Ranking Minority Member, VA-HUD House Appropriations Sub-Committee 


Contact information 

Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey

Phone: Washington DC: 1-202-225-5161 / Local office 415-507-9554

Senator Barbara Boxer

Phone: Washington DC 1-202-224-3553 / Local office 415-403-0100

Senator Dianne Feinstein

Phone: Washington DC 1-202-224-3841 / Local office 415-393-0707 

It is best to call the Washington offices.

Use the toll free Capitol Switchboard at 1-888-818-6641 in Washington and ask for their office.

If the toll free number is constantly busy, try to call during off hours (time in Washington DC is 3 hrs later)

If you still cannot reach them, call the local phone numbers provided. 

Do know - your phone calls can make a difference! 
 
House and Senate staff is expected to start meeting this week to reconcile differing versions of the 2005 VA-HUD funding bill approved earlier by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The decisions Congress makes regarding the provisions of the bill governing funding for the “Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program will have serious implications – for both the low-income families the program serves and the property owners who rent to them. The Center has released a new analysis, available at www.cbpp.org discussing the choices Congress faces. 

Both the House and Senate bills reject deep voucher funding cuts sought by the Administration and take no action on an Administration plan to convert the program to a block grant. But both bills also contain provisions regarding how HUD distributes voucher funds to state and local housing agencies that raise serious concerns. 

The House bill grants HUD broad discretion to continue flawed funding policies it first put in place during 2004. These policies provided some housing agencies with more money than they needed to cover the costs of their vouchers and some with too little funding. Many agencies that received too little funding were forced to cut assistance for needy families. 

The Senate bill seeks to address some of the problems that occurred in 2004, but the language in the bill needs to be strengthened if it is to avert further cuts. 

To prevent a repeat of the cuts and chaos that the voucher program experienced in 2004, it is important that you urge Congress to both: provide adequate funding to support all authorized housing vouchers that can be used; and require HUD to distribute the funds to housing agencies in a way that covers the real costs of each agency’s vouchers. 

Ask your Senators and Representatives to deliver this message to the following key members: 


Senate:

Kit Bond (Republican-Missouri), Chair, VA-HUD Appropriations Committee

Barbara Mikulski (Democrat-Maryland), Ranking Minority Member, VA-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee 


House of Representatives

Jim Walsh (Republican-New York), Chair, VA-HUD Appropriations Committee

Alan Mollohan (Democrat-West Virginia), Ranking Minority Member, VA-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee 

For further information on the House and Senate bill and the changes we are recommending, see the new analysis listed above or contact Will Fischer (202) 408-1080, fischer-AT-cbpp.org


Roll Back The Rents
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