White House Concerned About Cost : Senate Votes $923 Million for Homeless

The Senate gave final approval Saturday to a $923-million aid measure for the homeless that supporters called “the foundation for a national commitment to end homelessness in America.”

The funding bill passed on a 65-8 vote and is expected to be approved early this week by the House. It faces an uncertain fate at the White House, however, where Administration officials have expressed concern about its cost.

Earlier versions of the bill had prompted the Administration to call on states and cities to assume a greater share of the burden for helping the homeless.

6 Weeks of Negotiations

The final version emerged from six weeks of negotiations by a House-Senate conference committee that ironed out differences between homeless bills passed earlier by both chambers. Supporters said it represents a congressional response to a “nationwide call for effective action” to help homeless people.

“This legislation will provide real help to tens of thousands of Americans who are suffering homelessness,” said Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), a leading proponent.

“It does not fully meet the enormity of the need and it does not do all that I would like to see done,” he added. “But it is a serious effort to respond to real suffering.”

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), a co-sponsor of the bill who called the homelessness problem “a blight on our nation,” said the legislation “is a start . . . but it is only a start.”

Emergency Shelter Grants

The bill authorizes $443 million this fiscal year and an additional $480 million next year for homeless aid programs. The measure provides $220 million over the next two years for emergency shelter grants for states. Much of that money is expected to go through nonprofit homeless support agencies to rehabilitate old buildings as shelters.

Other provisions of the bill include funds for programs to improve the physical and mental health, education and nutrition of the homeless. It also seeks to encourage nationwide competition among nonprofit organizations to develop programs that would help the homeless become self-sufficient.

The bill gives governors and mayors primary responsibility for developing methods of helping homeless people, and provides federal financial aid to help them.

Last month, the U.S. Conference of Mayors reported a dramatic increase in the growing numbers of homeless families seeking shelters in urban centers across the country. A survey of 29 major cities found that the number of homeless families had increased by more than 30% in the last two years.