LeadingAge has signed on to support two recent Housing Choice Voucher efforts.

First, we have endorsed the forthcoming Fair Housing Improvement Act, to be introduced by Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Representative Scott Peters (D-CA), which would prohibit housing discrimination based on source of income (e.g., paying for rent with a Housing Choice Voucher) or on military / veteran status. The bill is a reintroduction of legislation from the last Congress.

Second, LeadingAge joined a letter coordinated by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities supporting HUD’s FY23 request for 200,000 new Housing Choice Vouchers, which would be the largest amount new general vouchers in more than 50 years. “Rigorous research shows that vouchers are highly effective at reducing homelessness and other hardship, and the voucher program has a long history of putting virtually all of the funds Congress provides to use assisting people struggling to afford rent,” the letter says.

More than 25% of the nation’s Housing Choice Voucher program is occupied by older adults. And, the voucher program is HUD’s largest housing assistance program (2.6 million of HUD’s 5.1 million assisted homes are through the voucher program).