House OKs Housing Bill Over Veto Threat

Acting on legislation tailored for riot-damaged Los Angeles and other depressed inner cities, the House Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a $28.8-billion housing bill despite a White House veto threat.

The omnibus measure, approved 369 to 54, would authorize a special “New Towns” provision to rebuild devastated areas of South Central Los Angeles and would triple the amount of funds requested by President Bush for housing grants to state and local governments.

A program pushed by Housing Secretary Jack Kemp to promote home ownership among public housing tenants was cut back sharply, however, from the $1 billion requested by the Bush Administration to $400 million.

In unusually harsh criticism of the legislation, the Office of Management and Budget said the bill would waste scarce funds and scuttle White House compromises with Democratic leaders on housing policy that were worked out only two years ago.

But strong bipartisan support for the measure indicated that Congress will pass a major housing bill this year after the Senate takes up its version in the closing weeks of the session.

The bill authorizes ceilings on funds. The actual spending would have to be approved later in appropriations bills, which often provide lesser amounts and sometimes fail to fund some programs.

Under a special section of the House bill directly responding to the Los Angeles riots, federal funds would be earmarked for housing, jobs and social services in parts of the city that were declared emergency areas during the disorders.

Plans to be submitted by local governing boards, formed by community leaders, business owners and lenders, would provide for construction or renovation of at least 1,500 housing units in each area. At least 60% of the units would have to made available for purchase by residents at “affordable” prices.

While there was no specific amount authorized for the Los Angeles pilot program, the bill would require that at least 25% of the total must be provided from non-federal sources, such as state, local or private funds.

In addition, the bill would authorize $3.4 billion nationwide for community development block grants. It would allow the city and county of Los Angeles to use up to 25% of their funds under this program to provide public services, including social services, to aid recovery from the riots last spring. Normally, localities may use only 15% of grants for such purposes.

Another provision would allow poor families living in public housing in Los Angeles and five other cities to receive federal aid and counseling to help them move to more affluent neighborhoods as part of the “moving to opportunity for fair housing” program.

Los Angeles also stands to benefit from a new “Youthbuild” program to enlist low-income young people, aged 16 to 24, in construction or rehabilitation of housing under the supervision of experienced workers.

The riots in Los Angeles also focused renewed attention on the housing problems of low-income families across the nation, prompting the new legislation only two years after the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 was signed into law.

A total of $2.2 billion was authorized for the Home Investment Partnerships program, which provides grants to states and cities to help provide affordable housing for low-income and moderate-income families.

Overall, the bill would provide $14.5 billion for rent subsidies for low-income city dwellers, with about 61% of the funds earmarked to continue existing federal aid for non-rural housing.