House Passes Housing Bill That Faces Veto

House Democrats won passage of a $15.9-billion omnibus housing authorization bill Thursday, setting the stage for a new veto fight with President Reagan.

The Senate passed a similar measure in March, and the two chambers are expected to resolve differences in the bills quickly and send the legislation to the White House, where officials have warned that a veto is likely.

The House bill was passed on a 285-120 vote.

The Senate bill would authorize $15.6 billion for the various government housing programs. Both measures basically seek to freeze housing programs at their current levels, but the larger House bill compensates for inflation.

‘Budget-Busting Bill’

Administration opposition to the bill was made clear in a letter from Budget Director James C. Miller III, who described the House measure as “a budget-busting bill . . . a costly and burdensome measure and one I am confident will be vetoed by the President should it reach his desk.”

Largely because of Administration objections to the costs and strategies of existing housing programs, Congress has not been able to pass a regular housing authorization bill since 1980. Democrats charge that Reagan’s policies have led to a shortage of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families.

Since 1981, appropriations for federally assisted housing programs have dropped from $31.9 billion to $9.4 billion. Almost no new public housing units have been built over the last five years.

New Housing Units

The House bill approved Thursday would authorize 63,000 new low-cost housing units for low-income families. It would also provide $325 million for several programs that the Administration wants to end, including the “Nehemiah” program to help moderate-income families purchase their own homes.

House Republicans offered a $14.2-billion substitute plan that would emphasize rehabilitation of existing public housing units rather than construction of new units, but that plan was rejected Wednesday on a near party-line vote, 246 to 179.

The Democratic bill authorizes $7.9 billion in 1988 for assisting housing programs, including low-income assistance, elderly and handicapped housing, new public housing construction and grants for public housing improvement programs.