House Financial Services Chairman Seeks Recommendations for Restructuring HUD and Improving the Delivery of Housing Resources

In commemoration of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s 50th anniversary, House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) has issued a call for ideas to reform HUD and modernize the delivery of federal housing assistance. Hensarling argues that HUD has not lived up to the expectations set for the agency by President Lyndon Johnson when he created the department, stating, “instead of marshaling federal resources towards the goal of addressing America’s housing needs, HUD has come to symbolize the dashed hopes of the Great Society vision that mistook centralization for coordination and spending for compassion.”

Hensarling asks that stakeholders submit proposals on restructuring HUD to maximize its organizational efficiency; innovative approaches to address housing affordability that respect individual rights and promote individual responsibility, methods of targeting housing assistance to address generational cycles of poverty; and examples of successful implementation of such proposals at the local, national, or international level. Proposals and recommendations will be accepted until November 1, 2015.

NCSHA will be submitting comments on behalf of our HFA members. However, HFAs that wish to submit individual comments should do so. If you have proposals that you would like NCSHA to consider for its comments, please send them to NCSHA’s Althea Arnold by October 21.