ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605100082
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press WASHINGTON
The House voted Thursday to replace the nation's 59-year-old policy for housing the poor in largely federally funded projects with block grants giving more power to local officials.
The Clinton administration said it would oppose the Republican-written bill unless changes are made to assure that public housing remains affordable for the most impoverished.
Nonetheless, 91 House Democrats, including all Virginia representatives except Rick Boucher of Abingdon, joined all but four House Republicans to pass the measure by a 315-107 vote.
Democrats said the plan would increase rents for the poor and turn many of them out into the streets; majority Republicans said the changes would help rid the nation's largest cities of crumbling and crime-ridden housing projects.
``This bill begins the process of strengthening communities,'' said Rep. Rick Lazio, a New York Republican. ``We're getting back to local involvement, local flexibility.''
Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros commended the House for endorsing changes he said President Clinton had put in place, but he said supporters of the bill were ``wrong to allow rents to be raised on the working poor and to deny scarce federal housing aid to families most in need.''
The Senate passed a less sweeping public housing overhaul plan in January, and negotiators from the two houses would have to work out the differences.
Under the House bill, the country's 3,400 local public housing authorities would be closed and replaced by more autonomous new agencies. The government would divide $6.3 billion in block grants among them in each of the next five years.
The House also:
Approved an amendment that would bar from public housing anyone convicted of selling illegal drugs. Family members not involved with the drug selling would not be affected.
Rejected an amendment that would have required that 25 percent of the seats on the boards that would run the new agencies go to public housing tenants. Lazio's bill requires that at least one public housing tenant be on each board.
Approved a plan to allow more elderly public housing tenants to keep pets. Senior citizens currently can own pets in seniors-only public housing developments, but they can't in other federally supported housing.
Approved an amendment that makes it easier for local housing officials to keep evicted tenants off their properties.
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