Article: Housing Budget Slashed Again

Housing Budget Slashed Again

Corbett's action shreds safety net

Philadelphia Tribune Review, Tuesday, January 17 2017, Written by Damon C. Williams

Cuts to the education and infrastructure repair budgets hurt enough, but cuts to housing – which have an immediate effect on the people that need those services the most – is particularly debilitating.

“You could say it has been a series of cuts to the housing budget,” said Liz Hersh, executive director of the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania. “Last year, our budget for this year was dramatically cut, and the governor just cut it again last week.”

Hersh said Gov. Tom Corbett lopped off about 10 percent of the budget last week, coming a year after he whittled off 5 percent. These cuts, said Hersh, will have a direct effect on several housing programs: The Homeowner’s Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program; Human Services Development Fund; Accessible Housing Program; Homeless Assistance Program and Keystone Communities, which was formally referred to as the Housing and Redevelopment Assistance program.

And these cuts couldn’t have possibly come at a worse time, Hersh added.

“I think that a lot of people are struggling, facing foreclosure, and are on the verge of homelessness with nowhere to turn,” she said. “Even the service providers in the communities are overwhelmed. It’s a shredding of the safety net.

“I guess the governor’s office is saying, ‘it’s a tough time, there’s no money,’ and they can’t afford it.”

With general budget cuts across the board, particularly to the service-providing sector, Hersh has a reason for her grim assessment.

“Foreclosures are up, homelessness is up. Fewer Pennsylvanians have homes within their reach. Having more homeless children in Pennsylvania is not an acceptable option,” she said. “These cuts will further propel the downward spiral of lives and our economy.”

Hersh and her team aren’t waiting for the state to reverse course, however. On its website, www.housingalliancepa.org, the nonprofit organization lists several resources and programs that local communities can implement to help ease the pinch caused by the cuts. It has also teamed up with The National Alliance to End Homelessness and other grassroots organizations to assist, in lieu of state government action.

Still, Hersh wonders if that will be enough to offset the deep cuts in the housing budget.

“What we are really hoping for is to show the state legislators that these cuts were penny wise and pound foolish; sometimes, you have to spend a little to save a lot,” Hersh said, noting that, if implemented correctly, the programs that were cut could actually save money for the state. “This is a very shortsighted way of looking at things, and it’s making the economy worse. We are hoping [legislators] find a way to do what’s right.”