Council of the District of Columbia Committee on Economic Development and Housing Notice of Public Oversight Roundtable

1350 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20004

COUNCILMEMBER MICHAEL BROWN, CHAIRPERSON COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING ANNOUNCES A PUBLIC OVERSIGHT ROUNDTABLE ON
Long Term Funding and Planning: Ensuring the Survival of the Local Rent Supplement Program Councilmember Michael Brown, Chairperson of the Committee on Economic Development and Housing, announces a public oversight roundtable on: Long Term Funding and Planning: Ensuring the Survival of the Local Rent Supplement Program. The public oversight roundtable will be held on, October 26, 2012, at 10:00 a.m., in the Council Chamber, Room 500 of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20004. The Local Rent Supplement Program was established in 2007 as a result of recommendations from the original Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force. The City made a commitment to very low income residents by putting this unique locally funded program in place, to combat federal funding cuts to public housing and housing choice vouchers, with a goal of removing 1,000 families from the DC Housing Authoritys waiting list annually. Despite this goal, the program was consistently flat funded after the initial year. Although the program did not expand as planned, the City had taken pains to protect the budget for the 1,000 housing slots in the program but now the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) has been directed to shrink the program. The Committee learned recently, despite action over the past two years by the Council, DCHA was directed by the Executives budget office to allow a number of vacant local rental assistance vouchers under the LRSP to lapse. During the last two budgets, the Council has stricken proposed language in the Budget Support Act directing DCHA not to fill vacant vouchers. The source of ongoing funding of the program is another critical area. The Committee maintains that designating more than $17,000,000 from the Housing Production Trust Fund in each of the last two budgets to cover the continuing costs of the LRSP is contrary to the intent of the program. Over the first years of the LRSP, support for the program came from the general fund, the more recent practice of siphoning of large sums form the HPTF only serves to pit two distinct and equally important affordable housing tools against each other. Doing so ultimately places an even heavier burden on the Districts ability to effectively execute the full range of housing production and preservation. The practical effect of allowing these policies to continue will be the contraction and the eventual death of the Local Rent Supplement Program and an overall reduction in

affordable housing options in the District. This roundtable will explore these issues and discuss the need for emergency legislation in the short term and permanent fixes for the long term.

Friday, October 26, 2012, 10:00 a.m. Room 500, John A. Wilson Building 1350 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20004
Those who wish to testify should contact Carol Sadler at (202) 724-8198 or csadler@dccouncil.us, and provide your name, organizational affiliation, and title of organization by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 24, 2012. Witnesses should bring 20 copies of their written testimony to the roundtable. The Committee allows each individual 3 minutes to provide oral testimony in order to permit each witness an opportunity to be heard. Additional written statements are encouraged and will be made part of the official record. The official record will close ten days following the conclusion of the roundtable.