House Oversight Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Federal Assistance Programs

The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services held a hearing on May 7, “Examining the Growth of the Welfare State, Part II.”  Witnesses were the Honorable Ben Carson, M.D., Former Secretary of HUD; Mr. Chris Edwards, Kilts Family Chair in Fiscal Studies at The Cato Institute; Mr. Howard Husock, Senior Fellow, Domestic Policy Studies at The American Enterprise Institute; and Mr. Indivar Dutta-Gupta, Advisor at Community Change and Doris Duke Distinguished Visiting Fellow, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University.

The hearing focused on the impact of federal assistance programs that help people afford basic needs, with a focus on housing assistance, food assistance, and Medicaid. Subcommittee Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) shared how federal assistance programs, including public housing, helped give his family the stability they needed during a difficult time, and that stability made it possible for them to gain financial self-sufficiency. Subcommittee Chair Glenn Grothman (R-WI) emphasized the impact assistance programs have on marriage rates, and many of his Republican colleagues asserted claims of waste, fraud, and abuse in assistance programs. Committee Democrats pushed back, noting that the overwhelming majority of people and families receiving public assistance are working, elderly, or have a disability, and that cutting programs will lead to increased hunger, lost health care coverage, and more people experiencing housing instability and homelessness. 

NLIHC opposes harmful policies that restrict access to housing assistance and would leave more people struggling to afford rent and keep a roof over their heads. President Trump’s “skinny” budget request, released on May 2, includes significant cuts funding to vital affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs and proposes to impose a two-year time limit of receiving rental assistance for “able-bodied adults.” 

Imposing new time limits or work requirements will not create well-paying jobs and opportunities for financial security. According the NLIHC’s Out of Reach report, 14 of the 20 most common occupations in the U.S. pay a lower median hourly wage than the wage needed to afford a one- or two-bedroom rental home. Sixty-four million people, or 42% of the entire workforce, work in these 14 occupations, including retail and restaurant workers, health home aides and nursing assistants, building cleaners and repair workers, administrative assistants and those in the construction trades.

NLIHC urges federal lawmakers to expand investments in proven housing, homelessness, and community development programs. Advocates can take action to protect and expand these vital programs by contacting your member of Congress directly or via NLIHC’s Take Action page.

Information about the hearing, witness list, and a link to watch a replay of the hearing can be found here.