Duhbya to Halt Housing Aid for the Disabled
With little fanfare, the Bush administration is proposing to stop financing the construction of new housing for the mentally ill and physically handicapped as part of a 50 percent cut in its housing budget for people with disabilities.
The proposal, which has been overshadowed by the administration's plans to shrink its community development programs, affects what is known as the Section 811 program. Since 1998, Section 811 has helped nonprofit developers produce more than 11,000 units of housing for low-income people with disabilities, including more than 700 in New York State.
Until now, Section 811 has provided equal amounts each year, roughly, for financing for new construction, and rent subsidies for disabled tenants. But under the 2006 budget proposal, the capital allocation would be eliminated and the overall budget would shrink by half, to $120 million from $238 million.
WWJD? Jesus would cut taxes for the wealthy and make the disabled pull themselves up by their bootstraps, that's what.
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