m.dailykos.com/stories/2019/6/17/1865426/-Juli-n-Castro-rolls-out-plan-to-make-housing-affordable-and-combat-homelessness?detail=emaildkre
Julián Castro rolls out plan to make housing affordable and combat homelessness
Jun 17, 2019 4:18pm EDT by Laura Clawson, Daily Kos Staff Saying, “I believe housing is a human right,” Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro proposed a major increase in federal spending on housing to combat homelessness and the housing crisis. Castro, a former secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Obama, proposed quadrupling the federal Section 8 rent voucher program, expanding a homeless assistance program, and giving a tax credit for low- and middle-income renters.
Since Section 8 now only has enough funding for 25% of the eligible families, quadrupling the program would mean that being eligible for the assistance and getting it would be the same thing, rather than eligibility meaning years on a wait list.
Castro hasn’t yet released full details on the tax credit for renters paying more than 30% of their income for housing, but other candidates, including Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, have made similar proposals—clearly this is an idea with traction inside the Democratic Party.
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