Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Chair, I have a question for the bill's managers regarding the project-based voucher provisions. The bill generally limits a public housing agency's use of voucher funds for project-based vouchers to 20 percent of the authorized voucher units for the agency, but contains an exception among others providing that units of project- based assistance that are attached to units previously receiving another type of long-term subsidy provided by HUD will not count against this limitation.

We have an exciting initiative in Boston that would replace our 75- year-old Charlestown public housing development with a substantially larger, new construction mixed-income community on the same site. The public housing units are to be fully replaced with project-based vouchers. This will require a large commitment of project-based vouchers by the Boston Housing Authority, which would reduce the BHA's flexibility to commit project-based vouchers elsewhere as needed if the Charlestown commitment is not covered by the exception. Is it the intention of the bill's managers that the commitment of project-based vouchers to replace the former public housing units in a newly constructed development such as this would fall within the bill's exception for units attached to units previously receiving another type of long-term HUD subsidy?

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