Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) introduced the Housing Choice Vouchers Fairness Act to update the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) decades-old Housing Choice Voucher allocation formula so fast-growing cities like Las Vegas can access more of them. The Housing Choice Voucher Program is the federal government’s major program that helps low-income families, elderly and disabled individuals, and veterans afford housing in the private market.
Currently, the federal formulas that allocate vouchers are based on outdated population calculations dating back to the 2000 census. This legislation authorizes an additional two billion dollars in funding for the Housing Choice Voucher program to make sure public housing authorities that represent the country’s 25 fastest-growing cities with a population of over 100,000 can provide enough vouchers to meet the needs of their populations.
“Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, and as our population expands, so does our need for affordable housing,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “Current housing voucher programs aren’t cutting it, and this legislation would fill that gap to help working Nevada families find homes.”
“Nevada is facing an affordable housing crisis, and it makes no sense that an outdated allocation formula is preventing us from receiving our fair share of federal housing vouchers,” said Senator Rosen. “That’s why I’m helping to introduce a bill to update the formula and provide additional funding to fast-growing cities like Las Vegas. I’ll keep pushing for solutions to lower housing costs for Nevada families.”
Senators Rosen and Cortez Masto are working to lower housing costs and prevent housing prices from increasing further. Last year, Cortez Masto secured $9.4 million from the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of San Francisco’s targeted fund — almost twice as much as Nevada received the year before — to build more middle-class homes, and she’s pushing to reform the FHLB system. Cortez Masto is also leading legislation to significantly increase the amount of federal funds available for the HOME Investment Partnership Program to build more affordable housing across the country. Recently, her legislation to cut red tape to speed up federal land transactions and lower housing costs was signed into law.
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